• INTRODUCING PATRICK RYAN: MANAGING DIRECTOR AT MOBIUS CONSULTING

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INTRODUCTION TO PATRICK RYAN AND THE ORIGINS OF MOBIUS CONSULTING

Before starting Mobius Consulting eight years ago, Patrick Ryan worked at a number of large auditing, accounting, and tax firms in South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States, which allowed him to expand his skills, and gain invaluable experience in information and cyber security, which he ultimately called upon when starting Mobius Consulting in March 2012.

The idea for Mobius Consulting came about when Patrick reached a stage in his career where he began feeling frustrated by the limitations imposed on advisory work within “The Big 4” and recognising the opportunity that information security posed. While rules and regulations made sense from an auditing perspective, from an advisory perspective they put unnecessary limits on the scope of assistance we could offer.

“It was at this stage that I realised that what I loved doing most was helping clients fix things,” says Patrick. “However, I found myself in a space where my scope for making changes was limited because of where I was positioned. It was then that I decided that it was time to move onto something new. That ideal company did not exist, so I started Mobius Consulting,” he says from his offices in Cape Town.

The name Mobius came out of a desire to let go of limits and hard boundaries that can be found in the risk management industry. “I was looking for something that spoke of limitlessness and lack of boundaries,” says Ryan. Through my investigations, I came across the Mobius strip, which is a compact two-dimensional surface. It resonated with me that this is the icon. It forms the curvy shape in our logo. Mathematically it is the only shape that has one boundary. This perfectly symbolises what we stand for.”

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Patrick decided to form a consulting company that could walk clients through each step of the information risk management processes. With a focus on expert advice, Information Security, Cyber security, Information Privacy, Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM), IT Governance, Identity and Access Governance (IAG), Security Testing and Technology Consulting, to assist them in minimising their corporate risk.

Mobius is able to conduct assessments around leading security frameworks such as ISO 27 000 (an Information Security Management Systems standards) or NIST (a cyber security framework), as well as other frameworks and regulations. However, Mobius Consulting focuses 80% of its work around helping businesses through the remediation process, which is where clients fix their issues and mature their practices within their organisational structures.

MOBIUS CREATES SUSTAINABLE CHANGE IN YOUR ORGANISATION
TO ENABLE YOU TO GOVERN AND MANAGE YOUR INFORMATION RISK

This includes and is not limited to, defining and embedding policies, re-engineering or defining processes, helping staff to understand their roles and responsibilities as well as a selection of appropriate technologies.

“We look to improve upon a company’s governance, people, process and technology and pull it all together in order to help our clients attain peace of mind,” says Patrick.

Mobius Consulting has serviced over 150 corporate organisations and 22 of the JSE top 40 companies in South Africa as well as large corporate clients in Europe, Africa, and Mauritius. As a powerhouse in its industry, Mobius Consulting has over 40 consultants who specialise in information security, cyber security, and privacy.

The current Mobius Consulting clients have been serviced for many years, and this is testimony to success.

ABOUT PATRICK RYAN

Patrick Ryan (CRISC, CISA, CISM, ITIL Managers Certificate) is an IT management consultant with 20 years experience specializing in IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance. He has worked for some of the largest professional service firms and has accumulated experience across most industry sectors in Africa, USA, and UK.

After having worked for professional services firms for 15 years, Patrick established his own IT consultancy (Mobius Consulting) in 2012 with a view to assist clients in implementing the changes being driven by ever-changing technology, business demands, and external influences such as audits and regulations.

Patrick strives for Business and IT alignment and has a passion for client service, quality deliverables and developing people.