ISO 27001 readiness and consulting for startups
An ISO 27001 readiness engagement gets your ISMS, risk register, and Annex A controls audit-ready before the certification body arrives. Xorabyte runs it for you, led by a practitioner who has owned SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance end to end for a company, scoping through auditor sign-off.
When ISO 27001 is the right framework
Not sure which framework fits your buyers? See SOC 2 vs ISO 27001 for how the two compare on buyers, structure, timeline, and cost.
What an ISO 27001 consultant handles
You leave with a plan, not a binder
The certification audit: Stage 1 and Stage 2
ISO 27001 certification runs through an external audit in two stages. Stage 1 is a documentation review: the certification body checks that your ISMS scope, risk assessment, Statement of Applicability, and mandatory policies exist and hang together. Stage 2 is the implementation audit: the certification body checks that the controls in your Statement of Applicability are actually operating, with evidence to back it up.
The certificate itself is issued by an accredited certification body, not by Xorabyte. Xorabyte prepares you for both stages and stays with you through fieldwork, but the independent judgment that decides certification belongs to the certification body alone.
Timeline
It is 4 to 12 months for most startups, depending on size. A small, cloud-native team with clean access controls and an owner who can dedicate real time to the ISMS moves toward the faster end. A larger team, a wider scope, or controls that need to be built from nothing moves toward the slower end. The gap assessment itself runs a few weeks and ends with a dated, scored plan instead of a guess.
What an ISO 27001 consultant costs here
Engagements start with the Audit-Readiness Gap Assessment, a fixed-scope step at $6,000 to $9,000 USD: a scored view of where you stand against the full Annex A control set and a prioritized remediation plan. From there, most teams run the program on a monthly retainer through the certification audit rather than as a separate fixed-scope sprint. Growth runs $7,000 to $7,500 a month and Command runs $10,000 to $12,000 a month; both tiers include driving ISO 27001 to completion, not just maintaining what is already in place. See the pricing page for the full ladder.
The ISMS, Annex A, and what certification costs
ISO 27001 readiness FAQ
How long does ISO 27001 readiness take?
It is 4 to 12 months for most startups, depending on size, and depends on how much of the ISMS already exists. A small, cloud-native team with clean access controls can move faster than a company still writing its first security policy.
What does ISO 27001 readiness cost?
Engagements start with the Audit-Readiness Gap Assessment, $6,000 to $9,000 USD, a scored view of where you stand and a prioritized plan. From there, most teams run the program on a monthly retainer through the certification audit: Growth at $7,000 to $7,500 a month or Command at $10,000 to $12,000 a month, both of which include driving ISO to completion. See the pricing page for the full ladder.
ISO 27001 vs SOC 2: which one do I need?
ISO 27001 is a certificate, process-driven and recognized globally. SOC 2 is an audit report, evidence-driven and dominant with US enterprise buyers. Many startups selling internationally end up pursuing both, and the control overlap between them usually makes the second framework easier than the first.
Does Xorabyte issue the ISO 27001 certificate?
No. The certificate is issued by an accredited certification body after the Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits. Xorabyte does the readiness work before that: scoping, the risk assessment, the Statement of Applicability, Annex A implementation, and getting your evidence ready for the auditor to review.
Do we need a compliance platform for this?
No. We work inside the tools you already use, including a compliance platform such as Vanta or Drata if you have one. If you do not, we keep your risk register, Statement of Applicability, and evidence tracked for you and walk you through status every month.
Who runs the engagement?
Xorabyte is founder-led by Arif Mohamed, a senior security engineer who has taken a company through SOC 2 end to end, solo, on the company side: scoping through auditor sign-off. You work directly with that practitioner, not a bench.
Xorabyte is founder-led by Arif Mohamed, a senior security engineer who has taken a company through SOC 2 end to end: scoping, control implementation, evidence collection, and auditor management, personally and solo. With over six years across security and infrastructure, engagements are delivered by someone who has configured the VPCs, managed the cloud resources, and sat through the audit, not summarized someone else's report.
Earlier experience at ISA Cybersecurity, one of Canada's largest security firms. Based in the Greater Toronto Area, working remotely with startups across Canada and the US.
Start with a scoping call.
Tell us what triggered the ISO 27001 push. You leave the call with a clear path to certification.