Range guide
Range guide: lessons on choosing and running security training
Short answer
8 lessons in three tracks: the basics of matching training to the gap, choosing a platform, and running a programme that leaves evidence behind. Each lesson takes a few minutes and ends with what to do next. Facts come from vendor, standards and regulator pages read on 27 September and 11 October 2026.
By The Range Desk · Cyber Range Compare · Published 2026-10-11
Desk research from public vendor, standards and regulator pages read on 27 September, 11 October and 13 October 2026. Profiles follow our published method; we did not run the products.
Basics
Lesson 01 · 3 min · 2026-09-27
Start from the last incident: matching training to the gap it exposedWhy the training type should follow the gap your last incident or exercise showed, and how to read that gap.
Lesson 02 · 3 min · 2026-09-29
Individual skill, team readiness, organisational response: three levels of trainingWhy training works at three levels, which types serve each, and why skipping a level shows up in incidents.
Choosing
Lesson 03 · 3 min · 2026-10-01
Sizing a hands-on lab programme for a SOCHow many seats, how much time and which published prices to compare when buying hands-on labs for a security team.
Lesson 04 · 3 min · 2026-10-03
Team exercises versus solo labs: what changes when people train togetherWhat team exercises test that solo labs cannot, how platforms describe them, and how to schedule them.
Lesson 05 · 3 min · 2026-10-05
Reading a training vendor's price pageWhat the published prices of training platforms include, what they leave out, and how to compare quotes.
Running it
Lesson 06 · 3 min · 2026-10-07
Turning training records into evidence: certificates, scores and after-action reportsWhat each training type leaves behind as evidence, what auditors and boards look for, and how to keep it useful.
Lesson 07 · 3 min · 2026-10-09
One platform or several: when combining training types makes senseWhen a single multi-type platform fits, when specialists fit better, and how to run a pair of platforms without duplicating effort.
Lesson 08 · 3 min · 2026-10-11
What training platforms now automate with AI, and what to checkWhere AI now appears in labs, ranges and crisis exercises, what vendors say it does, and the questions to ask before relying on it.
Read next
- Range terms
Plain definitions of the terms used in security training.
- Range FAQ
Short answers to the questions buyers ask most.
- Training type finder
Five questions that weigh the training types and list matching platforms.