Know where you stand — before the auditor does.

Our expert-led team measures your program against the framework that matters—delivered with a prioritized plan your team can actually execute.

Engagement
Readiness Reviews
Frameworks FedRAMP Moderate · NIST 800-53 Rev 5 · SOC 2 · and more
Duration Scoped to organization size
Deliverable Gap map · Roadmap · Executive read-out
Starts Most engagements kick off within 10 days
Why a Readiness Review

The step before everything else.

A Readiness Review is a senior-led assessment that shows you exactly where your program lands against your target framework and what it will take to close the gaps. Timing and depth scale to the size and complexity of your organization.

How it differs
  • Not a pre-audit. A pre-audit checks readiness for a specific assessor on a specific scope. A Readiness Review reads your whole program against the framework so you know what's missing before you pay an assessor to find it.
  • Not a questionnaire. Self-attestation tools surface what your team thinks is in place. We verify it—interviews, walkthroughs, and evidence sampling—so the gap map reflects reality.
  • Not a compliance scan. Automated scans catch configuration drift. They miss governance, operator behavior, and evidence quality. Those are usually where the real gaps live.
Why it matters
  • Scope everything downstream. Most clients use the roadmap to scope the Compliance Program that follows—internally or with us. Either way, you spend on the right work.
  • Set executive expectations. A plain-language read-out gives your CEO, CFO, and board a shared picture of where you are—before deadlines or contracts force the conversation.
  • De-risk the audit. When the assessor shows up, nothing surprises you. The gaps they'll find are the ones you've already scheduled work against.
What you get

A predictable path — and everything in scope.

Every phase below names the work and the scope items it delivers. One flow, nothing hidden.

01
Phase 1

Kickoff + scope

Agree target framework, pull org context, align on interview list.

02
Phase 2

Assessment

Interviews, control walkthroughs, evidence sampling.

Scope delivered in this phase
  • 01
    Framework-mapped control assessment We walk every applicable control against your target framework and rate maturity against what an assessor actually expects to see.
  • 02
    Operator and owner interviews Structured conversations with program owners, engineers, and operators—so gaps reflect reality, not a document review.
  • 03
    Evidence-quality review A sample of existing evidence is pulled and scored: is it defensible, current, and attributable, or is it decorative?
03
Phase 3

Synthesis

Gap map, roadmap, evidence scoring, draft read-out.

Scope delivered in this phase
  • 04
    Prioritized roadmap Every gap gets an owner, an effort estimate, and a dependency map. You leave with a plan you can staff.
04
Phase 4

Executive read-out

Live session with execs + written package handed over.

Scope delivered in this phase
  • 05
    Executive read-out A plain-language risk translation your CEO, CFO, and board can act on—without a glossary.
Outcomes

What you’ll have when we’re done.

  • Gap map scored by control family
  • Roadmap with owners, effort, and dependencies
  • Evidence-quality scorecard
  • Executive read-out deck
  • Raw interview notes (optional)
Clarity
Know exactly where you stand—in days, not quarters.
Defensibility
Leave with evidence scored against what an auditor will ask for.
Velocity
A sequenced plan means your team can start Monday.
Common questions

What clients usually ask.

Is this a pre-audit?

No. It's broader and faster than a pre-audit. We read your program against the controls you'll be judged against—and we tell you where you're light, not just where you're noncompliant.

Who typically sponsors this?

A CISO, COO, or head of GRC—sometimes a General Counsel when the review is tied to a contract or certification deadline.

What happens after?

Most clients use the roadmap to scope a Compliance Program with us or run remediation internally. Either way, the roadmap is yours.

SIMCIA team members
Ready to be Ready?

Let’s talk through where you are.

Got 15 minutes? A Readiness Review gives you a prioritized, framework-mapped picture of your program—and a plan you can act on Monday.