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ChannelCISO / About

Operational experience behind practical security leadership.

I did not enter cybersecurity solely through audit, compliance or policy. I spent decades building and supporting the environments security programs are intended to protect.

Louis Barkhuizen, Founder and Fractional CISO at ChannelCISO
Professional biography

From infrastructure and managed services to cybersecurity leadership.

I am a fractional CISO and cybersecurity program practitioner with 30+ years across IT, infrastructure, managed services and cybersecurity leadership.

I founded Technology Solutions Management in 1999 and operated its managed-services practice for approximately ten years. Afterward, I continued supporting a smaller number of clients as their extended IT staff while providing selected engineering and advisory services.

My experience includes complex multi-location environments, enterprise networks, Microsoft platforms, virtualization, remote access, disaster recovery and business-critical systems.

Why ChannelCISO exists

Built from more than 25 years of seeing how a growing business actually matures.

ChannelCISO grew out of more than 25 years helping one privately held, multi-site manufacturing company evolve through every stage of technology maturity.

The relationship began with a small, single-server environment. As the business grew into an approximately $100 million organization with seven locations, about 150 computer users and roughly 250 endpoints, my role evolved with it—from MSP owner and hands-on engineer, to IT consultant and manager, and eventually to fractional CISO leadership.

That experience exposed a recurring gap. The MSP was successfully operating the technology, but the business still needed someone to govern cybersecurity risk, build the information security program, coordinate executive decisions and help ensure remediation work moved forward.

That is the role ChannelCISO was created to provide.

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Operations keep technology running. Governance keeps the business resilient.

The strongest security outcomes come from closing the loop between MSP operations and CISO oversight.

Extended expertise

Experienced leadership, backed by a broader bench.

Cybersecurity is too broad and too fast-moving for any one practitioner to credibly claim expertise in every technology, industry, threat and regulatory issue.

My role as a fractional CISO is not to pretend that I know everything. It is to understand the client’s business, recognize the limits of my own experience, make sound decisions and bring in additional expertise when the situation requires it.

Over time, I have developed relationships with experienced vCISOs, cybersecurity practitioners and technology providers whose perspectives and capabilities can supplement my own.

Good leadership does not require knowing everything. It requires knowing what matters, recognizing when additional expertise is needed and knowing where to find it.

Professional peer network

Active participation in communities that support peer review, shared experience and informed second opinions.

  • vCISO Catalyst
  • CISO Network
  • EC-Council C|CISO cohort
  • Independent vCISO and cybersecurity peers

Technology and delivery relationships

Working relationships with organizations whose platforms and expertise may support assessment, governance, coordination and execution.

  • Axari.ai
  • ScalePad
  • Cynomi
  • Other specialists selected according to engagement needs

I remain accountable for the engagement. Additional resources are brought in only when they improve the outcome, and availability is assessed for each situation.

Security recommendations must survive contact with real operations: budgets, legacy systems, vendors, technical constraints and business priorities.

How I work

Technical detail without losing the business decision.

One of my strongest capabilities is communicating across organizational boundaries. I can discuss detailed technical issues with engineers and service providers, then explain the same risks to executives in practical business, financial and operational terms.

I am particularly effective where cybersecurity has grown organically, responsibilities are divided between internal staff and an MSP, or leadership needs an experienced practitioner to bring structure, accountability and direction.

Credentials

  • Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO), EC-Council
  • Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of South Africa
  • Continuing education in Business Management, SMU Cox School of Business
  • Austin, Texas
ChannelCISO

The business platform behind the engagement.

ChannelCISO is the practitioner-led business through which I deliver fractional CISO and cybersecurity program leadership to MSPs and selected growing organizations.

Practitioner-led

The relationship is built around direct access to an experienced fractional CISO.

MSP-aligned

ChannelCISO does not compete for IT, help-desk or SOC services.

Built to execute

The goal is to move from risk and requirements to ownership, action and evidence.