A named security advisor
Your engagement identifies the advisor, responsibilities, backup arrangements, and decision-making authority before ongoing work begins.
Fractional CISO.
A named security advisor manages priorities, directs remediation, reviews vendor and customer security requests, and reports progress to leadership. Your IT team or MSP continues to operate and maintain the systems.
Retainer
CISO
Fractional security leadership, one owner
- Named advisorOne accountable program owner
- 8–25+ hoursTypical monthly scope range
- Written cadenceMeetings, reporting, and escalation
- Your existing teamWe direct; IT or the MSP executes
The formula
Security leadership.
Independent recommendations
We help evaluate tools and specialist providers without referral commissions. Purchases and implementation work require your approval and are separate from advisory fees.
Defined hours and responsibilities
The retainer sets advisor hours, meeting cadence, reporting, escalation expectations, and the work to be completed. Additional projects require agreement.
Best fit: small and midsize regulated organizations that already have IT staff or an MSP but need an accountable security-program owner for remediation, reporting, renewals, and customer requests.
Not the right fit: organizations looking only for helpdesk support, a tool reseller, a full-time onsite executive, or unlimited emergency response under a small monthly retainer.
How it integrates
Your first 90 days.
The first 90 days establish a current assessment, an approved roadmap, and a recurring reporting process. Timing depends on the agreed scope.
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Days 0–30
Review the assessment and current program
Review existing findings, systems, policies, vendors, and obligations. If a current assessment is missing or insufficient, agree its scope and fee before ongoing remediation oversight.
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Days 30–60
Approve the security roadmap
Agree priorities, action owners, target dates, and budget decisions with leadership and IT. Document what is included in the retainer and what requires separate implementation.
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Days 60–90
Track work and report progress
Run the agreed meetings, review remediation evidence, report open risks, and coordinate vendor reviews and incident preparedness. Your team remains responsible for operational execution.
Client reviews.
Plymouth Title Guaranty
We are not large enough to justify a full-time CISO, but we still needed someone looking at security from a leadership perspective. Their fractional advisor filled that gap.
Orna Therapeutics
We did not need another report dropped off and forgotten. The fractional advisor from Hardenwell made the assessment useful by helping the team act on it.
Heartland Dental
Some of the recommendations were simple, but they needed ownership. Their follow-up helped us assign that ownership and keep the remediation work from disappearing behind the next project.
Frequently asked questions.
The scope reflects the work, system complexity, and reporting needs. A typical engagement uses roughly 8 to 25 or more advisor hours per month. Hours, fees, responsibilities, and additional-project terms are agreed in writing.
Yes. The engagement identifies your lead advisor, backup or handover arrangements, and responsibilities. Specialist work may involve other providers where agreed.
Meeting frequency and reporting are agreed in scope. A typical arrangement includes a monthly working session and quarterly leadership review, with communication channels and escalation expectations documented.
No. Your IT team or MSP operates the systems. Independent firms perform audits and penetration tests. We can coordinate those services; technical implementation, assessment projects, testing fees, and emergency response are separately scoped unless explicitly included.
We can help define implementation requirements and evaluate an MSP or specialist provider. Technical delivery, staffing, fees, and responsibility must be agreed separately; the advisory retainer is not a helpdesk or managed IT service.
Why Hardenwell.
A dedicated advisor
A named, CISSP-certified advisor leads your engagement, with specialist support where needed. Responsibilities and the agreed deliverables are documented before work begins.
No referral commissions
We do not receive referral commissions from auditors, testing firms, brokers, or software vendors. External services are identified separately so you can review their scope and fees.
A written remediation plan
Everything we write is simple enough for leadership to approve and specific enough for your IT team or MSP to implement. One document, both audiences.
Book your advisor scope call.
Thirty minutes with an advisor.
We’ll cover the current security owner, active deadlines, your IT or MSP model, and the work already on the desk. You’ll leave knowing the likely cadence, monthly scope, and next step.
Prefer phone or email?
(754) 216-9664 [email protected]
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