Building Trust.Delivering Results.
Helping organizations successfully deliver technology through trusted client engagement, disciplined execution, strategic product leadership, and practical cybersecurity governance.
Trust
Transparent partnerships built on follow-through, not promises.
Leadership
Executive-level guidance across every engagement, start to finish.
Delivery
Disciplined execution focused on measurable business outcomes.
Security
Governance and risk management that supports growth, not friction.
Five disciplines. One outcome.
Every engagement draws on the same core capabilities, matched to what your organization needs right now — from steering a single initiative to standing up a security program.
Trusted Partnerships
We build trusted partnerships between organizations and their technology providers, aligning business objectives, delivery teams, and executive stakeholders to ensure successful outcomes. Long-term customer success comes from transparency, communication, and strategic guidance.
Disciplined Execution
We lead complex technology initiatives from planning through execution, balancing scope, schedule, budget, and quality while keeping teams aligned around measurable business results. Every project is driven by disciplined execution, proactive risk management, and clear stakeholder communication.
Strategy to Solution
We help organizations translate business needs into practical technology solutions by defining priorities, managing roadmaps, and ensuring products deliver measurable value to users. The gap between business strategy and technical execution is bridged to create solutions people actually adopt.
Virtual CISO (vCISO)
We provide executive-level cybersecurity leadership for organizations that need strategic security guidance without the cost of a full-time Chief Information Security Officer. Services focus on risk management, governance, regulatory readiness, and building security programs that support — not hinder — business growth.
Generative AI Coaching
We help business leaders and teams adopt generative AI with confidence — from practical use cases and workflow integration to responsible governance and risk guardrails. Coaching is tailored to where your organization is today, so adoption builds real capability instead of just chasing the trend.
Depth behind every engagement.
30+ Years Leading Enterprise IT
CIO, then VP of Technology, across the AmFed / Companion / Ascot lineage of insurance carriers — part of a 45-year career building mission-critical systems, not just holding certifications.
Two Certified Virtual CISOs
Both owners hold the Certified vCISO credential — executive-level security leadership and bench depth most solo consultancies can’t offer.
PMP® Certified Project Leadership
The globally recognized standard for leading complex initiatives from planning through delivery.
Dual Technical Foundations
B.S. Cybersecurity, Regent University & B.S. Computer Science, Mississippi State University — complementary degrees behind every delivery decision.
That combination of three decades of enterprise leadership, delivery discipline, and security fluency is a depth most engagement leaders don’t bring to the table — one that keeps initiatives aligned to both business outcomes and risk realities.
Numbers, not adjectives.
+ DC Licensed Operations Expanded from 11 states in under three years
Owned and led together.
Michael founded Fortress Group to bring executive-level engagement, project, and product management to organizations navigating complex technology initiatives. A PMP and Certified Virtual CISO with a cybersecurity degree from Regent University, he pairs disciplined delivery with a security-aware perspective earned from years on both sides of the table.
He also continues to support small and mid-sized businesses directly as a virtual CISO — providing executive-level security guidance to organizations that need it but aren’t ready for a full-time hire.
Brenda built her career as a sole architect of first-of-their-kind, mission-critical insurance systems — including a multi-state COBOL billing platform that stayed in production for over 30 years, and a policy issuance system she designed for U.S. agencies doing business with Lloyd’s of London syndicates, adopted industry-wide and in active use for over a decade. From 1993 to 2026 she served as CIO, then VP of Technology, across the AmFed / Companion / Ascot lineage of carriers, one chapter in a 45-year career in insurance technology.
Most recently, she directed the build of a low-code policy and claims platform and an AI-powered claims-scoring agent that took automated coverage from roughly 15% of claims to 100% in real time — work equivalent to 13 full-time employees. She holds a Certified vCISO credential and a B.S. in Computer Science from Mississippi State University.
“Building Trust. Delivering Results.”
Let’s talk about your next initiative.
Whether it’s a single project, an ongoing engagement, or a security program that needs executive-level leadership, Fortress Group is ready to help.
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