Virtual CISO (vCISO) — Security Program as a Service provides fractional security leadership for organizations that need accountable strategy, risk management, policy governance, compliance coordination, incident-readiness planning, security metrics, and executive reporting without hiring a full-time CISO. The base retainer is $3,500 per month; meeting cadence, hours, deliverables, frameworks, locations, and hands-on implementation are defined in the selected service tier and statement of work.
The vCISO serves as an advisor and program leader, working with executives, IT, legal, compliance, HR, vendors, and technical teams. The engagement can establish a roadmap, risk register, policy lifecycle, governance cadence, exercise program, and board reporting. It does not automatically include legal advice, formal audit or certification, 24/7 SOC monitoring, forensic incident response, unlimited project labor, or authority reserved for company officers. Those services require explicit scope and qualified providers.
Engagement kickoff and governance setup — confirm executive sponsor, business objectives, compliance drivers, meeting cadence, reporting expectations, communication channels, and escalation paths.
Current-state discovery — review existing Microsoft 365, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Purview, identity, endpoint, email security, data protection, backup, incident-response, policy, vendor, and compliance documentation where available.
Initial risk and control review — identify material security risks, control gaps, known issues, regulatory obligations, business-impact concerns, and quick-win improvements; document findings in an initial risk register.
Security strategy and roadmap development — prioritize initiatives by business risk, compliance need, effort, dependency, and budget; align roadmap items to Microsoft security and compliance capabilities where appropriate.
Policy and standards framework — assess or develop core security policies and standards such as acceptable use, access control, MFA, endpoint security, data handling, incident response, vendor risk, and security awareness expectations.
Compliance oversight rhythm — map applicable SOC, CMMC, HIPAA, or other requirements to program activities, track readiness gaps, and coordinate evidence-owner responsibilities; audit execution remains subject to separate scope.
Incident-response readiness — review or create an incident-response plan, identify roles and contacts, define notification and escalation expectations, and facilitate tabletop planning as included by engagement tier.
Monthly operating cadence — hold recurring security leadership meetings, update the risk register and roadmap, review open decisions and blockers, provide vendor/tooling guidance, and track agreed program actions.
Quarterly executive or board reporting — prepare and present a business-level security update covering risk posture, roadmap progress, key decisions, compliance status, incidents or readiness activities, and recommended priorities for the next period.
Virtual CISO (vCISO) — Security Program as a Service provides senior, fractional security leadership for mid-market organizations that need security strategy, risk management, policy, compliance oversight, incident-response readiness, vendor and tooling guidance, and executive reporting. It is designed for organizations that need CISO-level accountability but cannot justify hiring a full-time CISO.
The vCISO service is best suited for mid-market organizations that need recurring security leadership, governance, and oversight without adding a full-time executive role. It is especially relevant when an organization needs help building or maturing a security program across Microsoft 365, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Purview, compliance, and risk management.
The stated scope includes security-program strategy and roadmap, risk assessment and management, policy and standards development, compliance oversight, vendor and tooling guidance, incident-response readiness, and quarterly executive or board reporting. The service is delivered as ongoing senior security leadership on a monthly retainer.
Expected deliverables include a security strategy and roadmap, a risk register, a policy framework, compliance oversight, and recurring executive reporting. These deliverables are intended to give leadership visibility into security priorities, risks, and program progress.
The vCISO service helps define a security-program strategy and roadmap so the organization has a prioritized plan for improving governance, risk reduction, compliance readiness, and security operations. The roadmap is part of the stated service scope, but the exact planning cadence and milestones should be confirmed with IT Partner because the published service description does not define a detailed implementation plan.
Yes, risk assessment and risk management are part of the stated vCISO responsibilities. The service includes maintaining visibility into security risks through a risk register, helping leadership understand which risks need attention and how they relate to the broader security program.
Yes, policy and standards development are included in the stated scope. The service includes creating or improving a policy framework so the organization has documented expectations for security governance, controls, and operational practices.
The vCISO can coordinate readiness, governance, evidence ownership, remediation planning, and executive oversight for selected frameworks such as SOC 2, CMMC, or HIPAA. It does not replace legal advice, an auditor, a C3PAO, a certification body, or a guarantee of outcome.
Yes, the service is categorized for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Defender, and Microsoft Purview under Security and Protection. The stated scope includes vendor and tooling guidance, which can include guidance around Microsoft security and compliance capabilities where they are relevant to the client’s environment.
The vCISO service is intended to provide senior, fractional security leadership for organizations that cannot justify a full-time CISO. It can cover strategic leadership, oversight, and executive reporting, but the engagement depth is tiered and should be confirmed with IT Partner if the organization expects full-time operational coverage.
The vCISO service is an ongoing monthly engagement. It is not described as a one-time project, because the service is designed to provide recurring security leadership, governance, and executive reporting over time.
The service is tiered by engagement depth, so final pricing may vary based on the level of involvement, scope, and reporting expectations confirmed with IT Partner.
A typical first month focuses on onboarding, confirming stakeholders and cadence, reviewing available security and compliance documentation, gathering Microsoft 365/Defender/Purview context where applicable, identifying initial risks, and beginning a risk register and security roadmap. The exact first-month plan should be confirmed with IT Partner based on the selected engagement tier.
Typical prerequisites include an executive sponsor, stakeholder availability, access to relevant Microsoft and security portals or reports, existing policy and compliance documentation, current tooling and vendor information, known audit or insurance requirements, and approval for IT Partner to review security-program information.
IT Partner’s stated responsibilities include security-program strategy and roadmap, risk assessment and management, policy and standards development, compliance oversight for SOC, CMMC, and HIPAA as applicable, vendor and tooling guidance, incident-response readiness, and quarterly executive or board reporting. These responsibilities focus on leadership, governance, oversight, and guidance for the security program.
The client typically provides an executive sponsor, access to relevant information and systems, stakeholder participation, timely decisions and approvals, compliance context, and ownership of implementation activities unless remediation work is separately contracted.
The base service includes incident-readiness planning, escalation design, tabletop support when included, and executive coordination guidance. Hands-on forensic response, breach counsel, crisis communications, and unlimited incident labor are separate services.
No, not in the base $3,500 monthly retainer. MDR, SOC monitoring, after-hours response, and continuous technical operations require a separate managed-service agreement.
The vCISO service is primarily an advisory, leadership, governance, and reporting engagement, so the service itself is not described as requiring downtime. Any business impact would depend on future security changes, tooling adjustments, or remediation activities that are separately planned and approved.
The service includes recurring executive reporting and quarterly executive or board reporting, so leadership receives ongoing visibility into risks, priorities, and security-program progress. Because the engagement is ongoing monthly, the outputs from reporting should inform the next cycle of roadmap updates, risk management, and security-program oversight, with exact cadence confirmed with IT Partner.
Typical exclusions include 24/7 support, 24/7 SOC or MDR operations, continuous monitoring, ongoing maintenance, hands-on remediation projects, licensing costs, penetration testing, forensic incident response, external audit fees, legal opinions, guaranteed compliance certification, and implementation work unless separately scoped. 24/7 support, continuous monitoring, and ongoing maintenance are available as optional extra-cost add-ons delivered through IT Partner's NOC, third-party support partnerships, and a Microsoft Premier Support agreement where appropriate.
Each tier is defined in the statement of work by monthly hours, meeting cadence, included deliverables, frameworks, locations, executive reporting, project labor, and response availability. The base published price is $3,500 per month.