IT Consulting · Strategy · M&A IT Diligence
IT consulting from people who built the systems they're advising you on.
Mid-market and PE-backed leadership teams hire us when the slide-deck era of consulting wears thin. We deliver fixed-fee assessments, M&A IT diligence, cloud roadmaps that survive budget review, and fractional CIO engagements that translate technology into board-ready language.
Every engagement is fixed-fee with a written scope.
Pick the situation that fits to continue.
If this is happening → start here.
The most common reason engagements stall is mismatch between the trigger and the scope. Use this as a quick guide. If your situation isn't here, the scoping call sorts it out in 30 minutes.
Almost done.
Where should we send your scope?
How a Strategic Engagement actually runs.
Eight weeks. Four phases. Weekly working sessions. Board-ready deliverable at the end. No deck-only deliverables: every recommendation comes with a budget, an owner, and a date.
1Listen & mapPhase 01 · Week 1-2
2DiagnosePhase 02 · Week 3-4
3DesignPhase 03 · Week 5-6
4Deliver & handoffPhase 04 · Week 7-8
Stakeholder interviews across exec, IT, finance, ops. System inventory, contract inventory, license posture. Document the world as it is, not as it was meant to be.
Output: dependency map, contract register, interview summaryRisk heatmap by domain (security, infrastructure, identity, data, vendors, talent). Maturity scoring against NIST CSF 2.0 plus your regulatory regime. Cost benchmarks vs market.
Output: risk heatmap, maturity scorecard, benchmark reportTarget architecture (cloud, network, identity, security stack). 36-month capacity model with three scenarios. Vendor consolidation plan with quantified savings. Org design recommendations.
Output: target arch diagrams, capacity model, org recsBoard-ready read-out, prioritized roadmap with budget by quarter, RACI for ownership, and warm handoff to whoever executes: your team, your incumbent MSP, or our delivery org.
Output: roadmap, RACI, board deck, handoff planSix ways we engage. Pick the one that matches the trigger.
Every engagement is fixed-fee with a written scope. We don't bill hourly because hourly billing rewards the wrong behavior. If we underestimated, that's our problem, not yours.
Discovery sprint
Two-week assessment: interviews, system inventory, risk heatmap, prioritized 12-month roadmap with budget. The fastest way to find out where you actually stand.
M&A IT diligence
Buy-side IT diligence: tech debt, integration cost, licensing exposure, cyber posture, key-person risk, 90-day integration playbook with budget.
Cloud migration roadmap
Workload-by-workload migration plan: Azure / AWS / M365 target architecture, network and identity design, cost model, cutover sequencing, and FinOps guardrails.
Security program review
NIST CSF 2.0 maturity assessment, control mapping to your regulatory regime (SOC 2 / HIPAA / PCI / CMMC), gap heatmap, and remediation roadmap with cost & effort.
Vendor selection / RFP
End-to-end RFP: requirements gathering, scoring matrix, reference calls, master agreement redlines, SLA negotiation, contract execution.
Fractional CIO
Monthly retainer: 20-40 hours, quarterly board reporting, vendor management, security governance, IT budget planning, strategic project leadership. Six-month minimum.
Three engagement models. All fixed fee.
If we underestimate scope, that's our problem, not yours. Every engagement starts with a written scope, deliverables list, and date-stamped acceptance criteria. No retainer to scope.
Discovery Sprint
For leadership teams who need an honest second opinion before committing budget.
- Stakeholder interviews (CEO, CFO, IT lead, ops)
- System inventory and dependency map
- Risk heatmap with red / yellow / green by domain
- Prioritized 12-month roadmap with cost ranges
- Read-out deck and exec summary
- One follow-up working session
Strategic Engagement
A full strategy build for organizations going through transition: growth, M&A, or leadership change.
- Everything in Discovery Sprint
- 36-month capacity model (base / upside / distressed)
- Cloud target architecture and cost model
- Security program design mapped to your framework
- Vendor consolidation analysis with savings model
- Board-ready deliverable + working sessions through quarter-end
- Implementation handoff (internal team, MSP, or our delivery org)
Fractional CIO
Ongoing IT leadership for organizations that aren't ready to hire a full-time CIO.
- 20-40 hours per month, named CIO with bench backup
- Quarterly board / sponsor reporting
- IT budget planning and OpEx / CapEx optimization
- Vendor management and contract oversight
- Security program governance
- Hiring help for internal IT leadership when ready
- Direct mobile line for after-hours decisions
The stacks our consultants ran in operating roles.
We are intentionally vendor-neutral. That said, we know these stacks deeply enough to assess them, design with them, or hand a roadmap to your incumbent MSP and have it actually executable.
We map every recommendation to the framework that matters to you.
Every consulting deliverable cross-references controls. No "trust us, this is best practice". Every recommendation ties to a specific control in the regime that applies to your business.
NIST CSF 2.0
Default maturity framework for every engagement. Six functions, 23 categories scored.
SOC 2 Type I & II
Readiness assessments and controls design for SaaS, services, and FinTech.
HIPAA Security Rule
Healthcare entities and business associates. Risk analysis + remediation roadmap.
PCI DSS 4.0
Merchants and service providers. Scope reduction strategy and QSA-ready evidence.
CMMC Level 2
DIB contractors and primes. NIST 800-171 control mapping and gap remediation.
23 NYCRR 500
NY financial services. Cybersecurity program design and CISO certification support.
NAIC Insurance Data Security
Insurance carriers and producers. State-by-state mapping for multi-state operators.
California privacy
Consumer-facing organizations. Data inventory, DSAR workflow, and vendor agreements.
What clients ask before signing.
If your question isn't here, the 30-minute scoping call covers it. We don't ask for a retainer before scoping.
How do M&A IT diligence engagements work?
The deliverable covers technology debt, integration cost (CapEx + OpEx), licensing exposure (M365, Adobe, Oracle, SAP), cyber risk posture, key-person risk in the IT team, and a 90-day integration playbook with budget. We have NDAs and conflict-check processes ready for sponsor and target review.
Do you do fractional CIO work?
Yes. Our fractional CIO engagements are typically 20-40 hours per month and include quarterly board reporting, vendor management oversight, security program governance, IT budget planning, and strategic project leadership.
Will you implement what you recommend, or only advise?
Either. We are intentionally vendor-neutral and will hand a roadmap to your incumbent provider if you prefer. If you want us to execute, our Managed IT and Cybersecurity teams pick up the work with the same engineers who scoped it, which keeps continuity.
Can you provide references from similar engagements?
Yes. Under mutual NDA we share reference clients matched to your size, industry, and engagement type. For PE sponsors, we maintain a deal references list spanning manufacturing, professional services, healthcare services, and software.
What is your approach to security and compliance?
We map every recommendation to a control framework, typically NIST CSF 2.0 plus the regulatory regime that applies (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS 4.0, CMMC L2, NY DFS 23 NYCRR 500, or NAIC Insurance Data Security). We deliver a controls matrix, gap heatmap, and remediation roadmap with cost and effort estimates by control.
How do you handle scalability and growth planning?
Strategic engagements include a 36-month capacity model: seat growth, M&A scenarios, cloud spend projection, network capacity, and identity/security tooling. We pressure-test the model against three scenarios (base, upside, distressed) so the board sees what breaks first as the company scales.
Can you help with vendor selection (RFPs)?
Yes. We run formal RFPs for ERP, MSP, cybersecurity tooling, telecom/UCaaS, and copier/print fleets. Deliverable includes scoring matrix, reference calls, redline of master agreements, SLA negotiation, and contract execution.
What are your response times during an active engagement?
For active deals or incidents, we move to a daily standup and Slack/Teams shared channel. Fractional CIO clients have a private mobile number for after-hours.
How do you price consulting work?
Three models. Discovery Sprint is fixed-fee at $4,800 for a 2-week assessment. Strategic Engagement is fixed-fee at $24,000 for an 8-week scope (most common). Fractional CIO is monthly retainer starting at $9,800/month with a 6-month minimum. We do not bill hourly because it incents the wrong behavior.
Do you sign NDAs and conflict-check?
Yes. We'll execute mutual NDAs before any scoping conversation involves your data, financials, or vendor relationships. We run a conflict-check across our active client list and flag anything that could be perceived as adverse before we accept the engagement.
What if we already have an internal IT team?
Most of our consulting clients have internal IT. That's the point. We work alongside your team, not over them. Our role is to bring outside pattern recognition, give your IT director air cover for hard decisions, and accelerate work the internal team doesn't have bandwidth for. We are explicit that we are not auditioning to replace your team.
IT consulting
Have a deal closing, an audit looming, or a CIO leaving?
Bring it to a 30-minute scoping call. No retainer to scope. We'll tell you straight if we're not the right fit, including who is.
Scope a consulting engagement ↑or call (888) 574-5120