We have outsourced IT and run on EOS. Who should own cybersecurity readiness before we sell the business?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Assign an internal accountable owner, even if an outside provider performs most of the technical work. Outsourcing IT does not remove the leadership team's responsibility to understand business exposure, fund necessary improvements and verify what the provider actually covers.

Use the EOS Accountability Chart to make ownership explicit. The internal owner should coordinate qualified technical specialists, legal advisers where needed and the leaders responsible for affected operations. That person does not need to perform every security task personally.

Start with a qualified assessment rather than treating a completed checklist as assurance. Establish what systems and sensitive information the business relies on, which controls are in place and how recovery would work after a disruption.

Bring prioritized business issues into EOS execution:
- Give material remediation work a clear owner and completion criteria.
- Use Rocks for improvements that require coordinated quarterly effort.
- Monitor suitable ongoing measures through the Scorecard.
- Use IDS when progress is blocked by budget, unclear responsibility or vendor limitations.

Keep passwords, technical vulnerabilities and other sensitive details out of broadly distributed meeting records. Maintain appropriate evidence separately, with controlled access for advisers and eventual buyer review.

This applies the exit-readiness principle of turning operational discipline into a transferable, supportable business. A buyer may want evidence of recoverability and responsible oversight, not simply the name of your IT provider. EOS can organize the work, but it is not a cybersecurity standard or a substitute for specialist assessment.