Essentials Portal – Self-service IT strategy for CEOs, presidents & SMB owners.
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Tier A • Essentials Portal

Essentials Portal
Self-Service IT Strategy for CEOs & Owners

The Essentials Portal gives you structured, plain-English IT guidance without meetings or recurring calls. Ideal for smaller SMBs or hands-on CEOs who want a proven framework at a manageable monthly investment.

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Investment (USD)

$295 / month

or $2,950 / year

A simple way to strengthen IT leadership without hiring or increasing vendor spend. Essentials gives you curated guidance, tools and CEO-focused clarity — ideal for companies not yet ready for an advisor but wanting confidence and structure.

  • ✔CEO-friendly explanations of risks, priorities and key terms
  • ✔“What to ask your IT team/MSP” monthly guidance
  • ✔Quarterly mini-reviews of spend, tools and gaps
  • ✔Templates for planning, budgeting and minimum controls
  • ✔Email support for clarifying decisions or vendor proposals
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You can upgrade to Growth Leadership or Advisory later as your needs grow.

What you get with Essentials Portal access

Curated CEO-level content
  • ✔IT cost optimization playbooks for SMBs
  • ✔MSP evaluation and scorecard templates
  • ✔Cybersecurity baseline and minimum controls checklists
  • ✔Ransomware and incident response outlines in plain English
  • ✔Email security & phishing awareness briefings for leadership
  • ✔IT budgeting and forecasting worksheets
  • ✔Plain-English IT glossary so you can follow technical conversations confidently
  • ✔Quarterly “Action Prompts” checklist – 5–7 concrete things to tighten each quarter
Practical tools & templates
  • ✔IT vendor question lists – what to ask before signing
  • ✔IT policy templates (acceptable use, remote work, BYOD)
  • ✔Backup & disaster recovery decision checklist for CEOs
  • ✔AI opportunity & risk assessment for SMBs
  • ✔Board-ready one-page IT briefing templates
  • ✔License & subscription tracker to see where your monthly spend actually goes
  • ✔Cyber-insurance prep checklist – what insurers typically ask for and why
  • ✔“What to ask your MSP this quarter” question set for your next review meeting

Who the Essentials tier is ideal for

  • ✔SMB owners with roughly 5–25 staff
  • ✔CEOs who want structure but don’t need live calls yet
  • ✔Businesses early in their IT maturity journey
  • ✔Leaders who want to “get their arms around IT” before deeper advisory

If you anticipate larger projects, rapid growth, or board-level scrutiny in the next 12–24 months, we may recommend starting with Growth Leadership or Executive Advisory instead of Essentials.

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Start building IT clarity on your schedule.

Essentials gives you a structured, self-paced way to understand spend and risk without adding new meetings to your calendar.

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Optional executive add-ons

These are one-time or per-instance engagements that can be added to any membership tier. We’ll always recommend the smallest option that genuinely fits your situation. Most Essentials members start with a Spend Baseline & Savings Map or Policy & Minimum Controls Pack.

IT Spend Baseline & Savings Map

One-time review of your current IT spend (MSP, licenses, connectivity, backup, security) with a simple visual of where the money goes and 3–5 concrete savings opportunities.

  • ✔Consolidate overlapping tools & services
  • ✔Spot “auto-renew” traps and surprise costs
  • ✔Map spend to business functions and risk

From $3,250 USD (up to ~50–75 staff). Larger environments priced by scope.

Board / Lender IT Briefing (Virtual)

A focused, plain-English briefing for your board or lender on current IT posture, key risks, and the short list of actions you are taking next.

  • ✔Pre-call to understand your priorities & politics
  • ✔Concise virtual briefing with Q&A
  • ✔Short written summary you can reuse

From $3,750 USD per briefing. On-site board sessions available by request.

Incident / Ransomware Tabletop

Scenario-based exercise with your leadership team to walk through who does what, in what order, and with what information when something goes wrong.

  • ✔Custom scenario tuned to your reality
  • ✔Facilitated 90–120 minute live session
  • ✔Gap list and next-step recommendations

From $2,750 USD per exercise (virtual). Hybrid and on-site options available.

On-Site Strategy Day

One day on-site with your CEO, leadership team and key IT stakeholders to align roadmap, spend, and risk with your actual business plans.

  • ✔Pre-session call to shape the agenda
  • ✔Full-day working session on-site
  • ✔Written summary & 90-day action outline

From $5,250 USD plus travel (capped). Available to Advisory & Counsel members first.

Policy & Minimum Controls Pack

Lightweight tuning of core policies and minimum controls so you can demonstrate “reasonable steps” to staff, partners and insurers.

  • ✔Acceptable use & remote work policy tuning
  • ✔Backup / MFA / password baseline guidance
  • ✔Light customization for your environment

From $1,950 USD one-time, depending on complexity and number of locations.

Note: All add-ons are scoped and confirmed in writing before any work begins. No long-term commitment is required beyond your selected membership tier.