An IT audit predicted the risk. Weeks later, ransomware proved it right.
A small city hired Assess Technologies for a routine IT audit. The audit found no enterprise ransomware protection, untested local-only backups, and no disaster-recovery or incident-response plan, and warned leadership they were at serious risk. Weeks later, a ransomware attack halted city operations. The City called Assess Technologies back to lead recovery: containing the spread, restoring critical systems, standing up verified cloud backups, and writing the incident-response and disaster-recovery policies the City had lacked. Assess Technologies then authored a formal Managed IT Services RFP, evaluated seven vendor proposals with a scored, compliance-based recommendation, and now provides ongoing fractional-CTO leadership on a monthly retainer.
Client: A small municipal government with a few hundred staff across multiple departments and sites.
Services: IT Audit & Assessment · Incident Response & Remediation · Procurement Advisory · Fractional CTO / vCISO.
The challenge
The City engaged Assess Technologies for an objective audit of its IT environment. The review — interviews, systems analysis, and a full hardware and software inventory — surfaced serious, and unfortunately common, gaps:
- No enterprise antivirus or ransomware protection across servers and endpoints
- Backups stored locally, untested, and vulnerable — no verified offsite copy
- No disaster-recovery or incident-response plan
- Outdated licenses, aging server hardware, and undocumented systems
- Limited internal IT capacity to monitor or respond
Assess Technologies delivered a formal audit report and told leadership plainly: you are at serious risk.
What happened next
Weeks later, the prediction came true. A ransomware attack brought city operations to a standstill — exactly the scenario the audit had flagged.
The response
The City called Assess Technologies back to lead the recovery. Working alongside city staff, Assess Technologies:
- Contained the spread and stabilized the environment
- Restored critical systems and brought operations back online
- Implemented cloud-based, verified backups to replace the failed local-only approach
- Strengthened cybersecurity across endpoints, servers, and network
- Created incident-response and disaster-recovery policies the City had never had
- Brought in a managed service provider (MSP) for reliable ongoing support
From firefight to long-term footing
Recovery wasn’t the finish line. To put the City on durable footing, Assess Technologies authored a comprehensive Managed IT Services RFP — covering managed backup and disaster recovery, endpoint detection and response, 24/7 monitoring, a virtual CISO, help desk, patch management, and process documentation — written to the City’s real environment and compliance needs, including CJIS. Assess Technologies then evaluated seven competing vendor proposals against every scope and submission requirement, producing a scored, evidence-based call-back recommendation that let leadership choose with confidence rather than on price alone. Assess Technologies continues as the City’s fractional CTO on a monthly retainer, providing the strategic technology leadership of a full-time executive without the full-time cost.
The outcome
The City is now protected, resilient, and documented — with verified backups, real incident-response and disaster-recovery plans, a vetted managed-services partner, and ongoing executive-level IT guidance. What began as a single audit became a complete transformation of the City’s technology posture.
The same independent advisor who assessed the risk, led the recovery, and ran the procurement now sits at the table as the City’s fractional CTO — neutral, accountable, and invested in the outcome.
Could this be your organization?
Most ransomware victims had warning signs an audit would have caught. If you’re responsible for technology at a city, school, nonprofit, or growing company, Assess Technologies can identify your vulnerabilities, build disaster-ready systems, and lead recovery if the worst happens. Schedule a free introductory consultation.