A seasoned Chief Information Security Officer, embedded in your leadership team on a month-to-month retainer — owning strategy, governance, and regulator dialogue without the cost, notice period, or lock-in of a full-time hire.
Fractional CISO, virtual CISO (vCISO), CISO-as-a-Service — the industry uses the terms interchangeably. What they describe is simple: an experienced security executive engaged on a part-time retainer, carrying the same accountability a full-time CISO would, scoped to the hours your organisation actually needs.
For most regulated mid-market firms, a full-time CISO is the wrong instrument. The role demands executive-grade judgement, but rarely fills an executive-grade calendar — and the market for genuinely senior security leaders is thin, slow, and expensive. The retainer model resolves that tension: you engage the judgement, not the headcount.
Our Fractional CISO practice places senior practitioners only — consultants with board-level reporting experience across EMEA and APAC — inside your operating rhythm. Present at leadership meetings, accountable for the risk register, answerable when the regulator or the board asks the hard question.
A multi-year security strategy tied to business objectives — not a tooling wishlist. Reviewed and re-costed as the business moves.
Policies, standards, and control frameworks proportionate to your size and regulatory exposure — written to be operated, not admired.
Quarterly board and audit-committee reporting in business language: exposure, direction of travel, and the decisions that need making.
A living risk register with named owners, treatment plans, and review cadence — owned by your CISO, visible to your executives.
Architecture direction for identity, segmentation, and access — sequenced pragmatically against your current estate, not a vendor diagram.
Preparation for and support through regulator interactions — submissions, thematic reviews, and the questions that follow an incident.
Continuous oversight of ISO 27001, PCI DSS, GDPR, and UAE PDPL obligations — audits anticipated, evidence maintained, surprises removed.
Incident response plans, executive playbooks, and tabletop exercises — so the first rehearsal of a bad day is never the bad day itself.
The organisations we serve share a profile: material regulatory exposure, a board that asks real questions, and a security function too important to leave without leadership — but not yet large enough to justify a full-time executive.
Firms carrying PCI DSS scope, banking partnerships, and investor due-diligence scrutiny — where security leadership is a licence to operate.
Asset managers and regulated entities answering to DFSA and FSRA cyber risk management obligations. See our dedicated regulatory practice.
Operators holding sensitive personal data at scale, with complex third-party estates and privacy obligations across jurisdictions.
Companies whose enterprise customers now audit them — where certification, security questionnaires, and a credible security narrative decide deals.
A 30-minute discovery call, followed by a scoped review of your regulatory exposure, current controls, and leadership expectations. We tell you plainly whether a retainer makes sense — and at what tier.
The first quarter establishes the baseline: risk register stood up, governance gaps documented, quick wins executed, and a board-ready view of where the organisation actually stands.
A steady cadence of leadership: monthly working sessions, quarterly board reporting, audit and regulator support, and continuous ownership of the risk agenda — scaled up or down with 30 days' notice.
Three different instruments, often confused. Each has its place — only one sits at your leadership table.
Monitors alerts, runs the SOC, patches and responds within SLA. Essential operational capacity — but an MSSP does not set strategy, own your risk register, or stand in front of your board.
Scopes a deliverable, produces it well, and leaves. Valuable for defined work — but the accountability leaves with them, and the report ages on a shelf while the risk landscape keeps moving.
The recurring strategic leader: present month after month, directing the MSSP, commissioning the consultants, owning the register, and answering to the board. Judgement on retainer — not deliverables on a timesheet.
Every retainer is month-to-month, scalable with 30 days' notice, and scoped to your regulatory exposure and pace of work. Pricing is shared at the discovery call, once we understand the scope.
Foundational security leadership for firms formalising their programme — governance essentials, a stood-up risk register, and a quarterly executive view.
A regular leadership cadence for firms with active compliance obligations — framework oversight, audit preparation, and monthly working sessions.
Deeper embedded leadership for regulated firms in motion — board reporting, regulator dialogue, architecture direction, and incident readiness.
The full executive remit across multiple entities or jurisdictions — sustained regulator engagement, M&A support, and programme governance.
A 30-minute discovery call. A candid read on whether a Fractional CISO retainer fits — and at which tier.
30 min · Video · No obligation