Robust Margins, 50% Conversion: How Burwood Turned Risk Assessments into a Scalable Revenue Engine with Cynomi

Background

Burwood is a technology consulting firm with deep expertise in infrastructure, cloud, and security. In 2023, they saw a need to move beyond ad hoc cybersecurity projects and build a scalable, high-margin professional services business. Led by Thomas Bergman, Burwood launched a new cybersecurity assessment practice aimed at the SMB and SME markets.

The Challenge

“We had never done structured assessments. We were looking at firewalls – not business risk. Cynomi helped us flip that.”

– Thomas Bergman, Sr. Cybersecurity Consultant, Burwood

Before Thomas joined, Burwood’s cybersecurity services were fragmented, reactive, and focused on narrow technical fixes – like firewall security – rather than broader business risk. To grow and compete, Burwood needed to shift toward a management consulting model – advising clients on cybersecurity risk and positioning themselves as strategic partners. 

Risk assessments were key to this shift. They provide the baseline understanding needed to deliver meaningful vCISO services and open the door to executive-level conversations. 

But Burwood lacked a structured assessment process, which made it hard to deliver consistent value. As Thomas put it, “Everyone we talked to… sales professionals were doing their own thing. I saw the need to templatize that first engagement.” Without a standardized approach, delivery was inconsistent and unscalable – holding them back from moving upmarket and serving SMB and mid-market clients effectively.

Some of the challenges they faced were:

• Lack of structure: No formal assessment process or standardized templates. Sales operated independently, making delivery inconsistent and difficult to scale.
• Inability to scale: Manual, spreadsheet-based processes were time-consuming and resource-intensive, limiting the team’s ability to serve multiple clients efficiently.
• Time constraints: Clients weren’t willing to commit to week-long engagements. Burwood needed a faster way to deliver deep, high-value insights.
• Competitive pressure: As a boutique consultancy, Burwood needed to differentiate itself from large-scale players by providing highly specialized consulting services.

Thomas recognized the need for a repeatable, process-driven way to engage clients from day one – laying the foundation for scalable, high-value services.

The Solution

“Cynomi is that assistant that would cost the equivalent of one or two full-time engineers annually. It allows me to drive the assessment process naturally, without spending years developing something ourselves.”

– Thomas Bergman, Sr. Cybersecurity Consultant, Burwood

Burwood turned to Cynomi to standardize and accelerate their cyber risk assessment process, creating their flagship Cyber Risk Workshop offering. Cynomi allowed them to quickly spin up a two-day assessment that delivers deep insights – something that would otherwise require a full-time engineer and months of development.

Cynomi was implemented and used to:

Standardize, launch and scale assessments

• Launch a structured, 2-day Cyber Risk Workshop
• Replace manual tracking and spreadsheets with a centralized platform
• Serve as the single source of truth for assessment data and reporting
• Establish the workshop as the mandatory entry point for all vCISO engagements

Enhance client engagement 

• Present a clear, organized interface during assessments
• Use dashboard in client meetings to drive structured conversations
• Produce qualitative and quantitative outputs used in professional reporting

Simplify framework management

• Leverage built-in compliance frameworks instead of developing custom tools
• Automate the mapping and maintenance of frameworks like NIST and CIS
• Seamlessly switch between frameworks based on client needs