Technology Should Drive Your Business Forward. Not Just Keep It Running.
Most organizations spend on technology reactively — replacing what breaks, chasing the next vendor pitch, and hoping the budget holds. AlignLayerNine's IT Strategy practice brings executive-level advisory to organizations that want technology to work harder, cost less, and scale with intention.
Technology Roadmaps · Budget & Capital Planning · AI & Automation Strategy · Vendor Optimization · Executive Briefings
You Don't Have a Technology Problem.
You Have a Strategy Problem.
Your systems work. Your staff gets by. But when the board asks "are we spending the right amount on IT?" or "are we ready for what's next?" — there's no clear answer. That's not an infrastructure gap. That's a strategy gap.
Most IT providers will sell you tools. They'll optimize what you already have and call it progress. But no one is sitting with your leadership asking the harder questions: Should you be building or buying? Where is your technology investment actually creating value? What does your organization look like in three years and does your IT roadmap get you there?
That's what AlignLayerNine's IT Strategy practice exists to answer.
Advisory Built by Operators, Not Consultants
AlignLayerNine’s strategy team isn’t staffed by people who read about running businesses. It’s led by people who’ve done it.
Our senior advisors have built and exited software firms, served as directors of technology for 500-person enterprises, operated as COOs of IT services companies, and led finance for multinational security SaaS organizations. Collectively, we bring decades of hands-on leadership across software development, enterprise infrastructure, operations, and financial strategy.
That means when we advise your leadership team on a technology decision, we’re not guessing at the business impact. We’ve lived it — in organizations that look like yours.
We've sat in the seats your leadership sits in. That changes how we advise.
We build 12–36 month technology roadmaps that connect every initiative to a business objective — not a feature list. Every recommendation comes with cost context, resource requirements, and a realistic timeline so your leadership can plan with confidence, not react to surprises.
A roadmap your CFO can read and your IT team can execute.
Technology spending shouldn't be a mystery. We help your leadership team understand where every dollar goes, what's delivering value, what's redundant, and where strategic investment will generate measurable returns. We plan refresh cycles, forecast growth costs, and eliminate the surprises that blow budgets.
Know what you're spending, why you're spending it, and what you're getting.
AI isn't a feature to bolt on — it's a shift in how your organization operates. We help leadership teams separate the signal from the noise, identify where AI and automation will actually improve efficiency and reduce cost, and build adoption plans that your staff will follow. From Microsoft Copilot readiness to workflow automation to data strategy, we bring practical AI fluency — not hype.
AI that solves real problems, not AI for the sake of AI.
Most organizations are paying for tools they don't fully use, running redundant platforms, or locked into contracts that no longer serve them. We audit your technology stack, identify overlap and waste, negotiate better terms, and consolidate where it makes sense — reducing cost and complexity without sacrificing capability.
Fewer vendors. Lower cost. Less complexity. More value.
Your board and executive team shouldn't need to become technologists to make good decisions. We deliver clear, jargon-free briefings that translate technology posture, risk, and investment into business language. Whether it's a quarterly update or a special session on AI readiness, we make sure leadership has the clarity they need to govern effectively.
Technology leadership your board can understand and act on.
There's a Difference Between Advice and Understanding
What Most IT Providers Call Strategy
- A quarterly meeting that reviews ticket counts
- A hardware refresh recommendation based on age
- A slide deck your team has seen before
- A vendor recommendation based on their margins
- “You should move to the cloud” without a plan
What AlignLayerNine Delivers
- A roadmap tied to your business objectives and budget
- Investment recommendations based on operational ROI
- Briefings your CFO and board can act on immediately
- Vendor analysis based on your actual needs, not partnerships
- A modernization plan with timelines, costs, and accountability
Advisory That Fits How You Operate
AlignASSURE gives your leadership team the visibility, accountability, and confidence to make cybersecurity a strategic asset — not a liability. Let’s start with a conversation about where you are and where you need to be.
Embedded Strategy (For Managed Clients)
Standalone Advisory
Situational Engagements
Cross-Industry Perspective. Sector-Specific Depth.
Our advisory team has led technology strategy across healthcare, manufacturing, education, financial services, professional services, nonprofits, and high-growth startups. That cross-industry experience means we bring patterns and solutions from outside your sector — not just the same playbook your last IT provider used.
Strategy Informs Everything We Do
IT Strategy isn’t a separate silo at AlignLayerNine — it’s the connective tissue that runs through every engagement. Our operational services (AlignCORE and AlignSHIELD) execute and maintain. Our governance practice (AlignASSURE) ensures compliance and risk alignment. And our strategy advisory makes sure all of it is pointed in the right direction for your business.
IT Strategy
AlignASSURE
Governance, compliance alignment, vCISO leadership
AlignSHIELD
Advanced threat defense, SASE/ZTNA, automated pen testing, $500K cyber warranty
AlignCORE
M365 hardening, monitoring, identity protection, endpoint security, infrastructure management
Your Next Technology Decision Deserves Better Than a Guess
Whether you need a full roadmap, a second opinion, or someone who can explain AI to your board without the buzzwords — AlignLayerNine’s strategy team is ready for the conversation.