How Focus Technology uses usecure for policy management

At a Glance

Focus Technology Europe, a Cornwall-based managed service provider (MSP), strengthened policy management, cyber awareness, and compliance readiness across its customer base with usecure’s Human Risk Management platform. By giving clients access to professionally maintained policies alongside security awareness training, phishing simulations, dark web monitoring, and centralized reporting, Focus turned policy management from a recurring compliance problem into part of its standard managed service stack.

Key outcomes

• Client risk scores reduced from above 85% to under 20%
• £5,000 legal cost avoided for a single professionally written document, compared with access to a full policy library through usecure
• Greater Cyber Essentials and insurance readiness, with policies and supporting evidence available before clients are asked for them
• Policy management built into the standard client stack from day one

About Focus Technology Europe

Focus Technology Europe is a Cornwall-based managed service provider with a team of eight and 25 years of experience in IT. The business supports clients with managed IT and cyber security services and is ISO 27001 certified.

The Challenge

Improving Policy, Compliance and Audit Readiness

For years, policy management was something many businesses knew they should address but rarely prioritized. As insurers began asking for more detailed evidence of how businesses managed cyber risk, and Cyber Essentials placed greater emphasis on documented policies and processes, Focus Technology Europe increasingly found clients had little or nothing available.

“We either got nothing at all, or they were suddenly on the back foot with absolutely no material to send us whatsoever.”

Where policies did exist, they were often outdated, downloaded from the internet years earlier, written for the wrong country, or never reviewed. When an insurer, auditor, or assessor asked for current evidence, clients had nothing dependable to provide.

The consequences could be commercial. For some customers, Cyber Essentials certification was directly connected to winning important contracts.

“If they didn't get Cyber Essentials certified, they wouldn't gain important and lucrative contracts for their business.”

Focus needed a way to give every client access to current policies while also helping them demonstrate ongoing cyber awareness and compliance activity.

The Solution

Focus Technology Europe implemented usecure across its own organization and customer base, combining policy management with security awareness training, phishing simulations, dark web monitoring, and centralized reporting.

What Focus Technology Europe rolled out

• Vetted policy management
  A full library of maintained policies covering areas such as bring your own device, communications and email use, passwords, and AI. Policies are available in multiple languages and kept current, removing the need to source and maintain individual templates manually.
• Security awareness training
  Engaging videos and quizzes delivered alongside policy management, helping customers build awareness while giving Focus measurable results to review during client meetings.
• Phishing simulations and dark web monitoring
  Additional human risk capabilities delivered through the same platform, helping Focus provide customers with a broader security service rather than treating policy management as a standalone requirement.
• Centralized reporting
  Reporting gives Focus evidence of training participation and progress while also supporting its own ISO 27001 audit trail. Using the platform internally means the team can speak to customers from direct experience.

“usecure does all the heavy lifting, does all the hard work. It saves hours of time and an awful lot of money.”

The Results

Following rollout, Focus Technology Europe moved from reacting to policy requests to making compliance readiness part of its standard customer service.

• Client risk scores have fallen from above 85% to under 20%, with progress tracked and reported month on month.
• A single professionally written document previously cost around £5,000 through a legal firm. Clients can now access a full vetted policy library rather than paying separately for the five to ten policies they may require.
• Customers have policies and supporting evidence ready before insurers, auditors, or Cyber Essentials assessors request them.
• usecure is now part of Focus Technology Europe’s standard stack, giving new clients policy and awareness capabilities from the beginning of the relationship.

How They Did It

Focus Technology Europe made policy management part of an ongoing managed cyber security service rather than treating it as a one-off compliance exercise.

The team uses usecure to provide customers with maintained policies, awareness training, phishing simulations, and dark web monitoring through one platform. Centralized reporting gives Focus a clear record of activity and improvement, which can then be used in customer reviews, insurance conversations, Cyber Essentials preparation, and its own ISO 27001 audit processes.

This approach means clients are no longer trying to find or create evidence after an insurer or assessor asks for it. The policies, training records, and supporting data are already in place.

“If you don't have the policies or you don't have the certification, you just don't get the contract.”

“I would tell them to just buy it. It's worth every penny.”

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