Essential Eight Uplift Services
Remediate gaps. Achieve maturity. Build audit-ready security.
We help organisations implement and improve Essential Eight controls through practical remediation and engineering-led uplift. Whether you are preparing for audit, strengthening security posture, or progressing toward higher maturity, we deliver real improvements not theoretical advice.
The Essential Eight mitigation strategies are a set of baseline cyber security controls defined by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and published by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) as part of the official ACSC Essential Eight framework. Learn more about the framework here
When Essential Eight becomes a blocker
For many organisations, Essential Eight starts as a framework but quickly becomes a challenge when implementation gaps, unclear maturity, or ineffective controls emerge.
You may be experiencing:
- Failed or incomplete assessments
- Preparing for audit or regulatory review
- Need to reach ML1, ML2 or ML3
- Controls implemented but not operating effectively
- Lack of defensible evidence
- Security maturity unclear across environments
- Competing priorities slowing progress
Without structured remediation and engineering support, Essential Eight can stall increasing risk while consuming time and resources.
What Essential Eight Uplift Is
Implementation. Remediation. Maturity improvement.
Essential Eight uplift is the structured process of improving your security posture by addressing gaps, strengthening control effectiveness, and building sustainable maturity.
It goes beyond assessment.
Uplift focuses on:
- Fixing identified gaps
- Implementing missing controls
- Improving control effectiveness
- Aligning configurations to best practice
- Establishing governance and evidence
- Building a roadmap to higher maturity levels
The goal is practical, measurable improvement that stands up to audit and reduces real-world risk.aturity.
What We Deliver – Outcomes that improve security and maturity
Gap remediation
We address weaknesses identified through assessments or internal reviews, prioritising actions based on risk and operational impact.
Control implementation
Where controls are missing or incomplete, we design and implement solutions aligned to Essential Eight guidance and operational needs.
Hardening and configuration
We strengthen system configurations across endpoints, servers, identity, and infrastructure to improve resilience and reduce attack surface.
Governance uplift
We establish policies, procedures, and operational practices that support sustainable maturity and ongoing compliance.
Evidence readiness
We build defensible evidence artefacts to support audits, reviews, and assurance activities.
Roadmap to ML2 / ML3
We develop clear, prioritised uplift plans aligned to your risk profile, resources, and business objectives.
How We Deliver – Practical, engineering-led uplift
Our approach is structured, collaborative, and outcome focused.
We combine security engineering, architecture, and governance expertise to deliver uplift that works in real environments not just on paper.
Our methodology includes:
- Discovery and validation of current state
- Risk-based prioritisation
- Collaborative uplift planning
- Engineering implementation and remediation
- Evidence development
- Knowledge transfer to internal teams
- Continuous improvement roadmap
We work alongside your existing IT and security teams to ensure solutions are sustainable and aligned to operational realities.
Who This Is For – Organisations strengthening security maturity
Essential Eight uplift services are suited to:
- Small and medium enterprises building structured security capability
- Regulated industries strengthening governance and assurance
- Defence suppliers improving maturity to support contracts
- Critical infrastructure operators enhancing resilience
- Growing businesses formalising security practices
- Organisations preparing for audits or independent reviews
Trusted by defence, government, and regulated industries, our approach scales to your environment and risk profile.
Why Calexi – Engineering credibility. Practical outcomes.
Calexi brings deep experience delivering security uplift across complex and high-assurance environments.
We focus on real improvements not checklist compliance.
Working with Calexi means:
- Practical, engineering-led delivery
- Security uplift aligned to operational realities
- Clear prioritisation based on risk
- Sustainable solutions your team can maintain
- Strong governance and evidence focus
- Experience across enterprise, government, and regulated sectors
Our goal is simple: improve security posture in a way that is measurable, defensible, and sustainable.
Proven Capability in the Field
We have supported organisations across government, regulated industries, and critical infrastructure to improve security maturity, strengthen controls, and prepare for audit.
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ASX Hybrid Cloud
An ASX-listed critical infrastructure company faced major risks from an aging, non-compliant ICT environment. Calexi staff delivered a hybrid cloud transformation during COVID-19, enabling 100% remote work, achieving E8 compliance in under a month, and ensuring no staff layoffs while strengthening security and scalability.
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SME Essential Eight Compliance
A Defence industry SME required Essential Eight compliance to execute a Defence contract. Calexi delivered a full uplift in just four weeks, achieving ML1 across all areas, ML3 in key controls, and DISP membership within 3 months — reducing risk from very high to low/medium.
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DISP – Defence Industry Security Program Uplift
A Defence SME needed DISP compliance but faced limited resources and low security maturity. Calexi delivered a full uplift within 6 months, achieving Maturity Level 2, Defence approval, and cost savings all while improving security culture and posture.
Our uplift practice aligns with ASD Essential 8 / ACSC Essential Eight guidance, helping SMEs build defensible cybersecurity maturity, while our services deliver Essential Eight uplift and ongoing operational assurance for SMEs.
Frequently asked questions
Uplift timelines vary depending on current maturity, environment complexity, and target level. Many organisations see meaningful improvement within 3–6 months, with larger programs extending beyond this.
Most organisations target ML1 or ML2 initially. We help define achievable targets based on risk profile, resources, and operational requirements, with pathways toward ML3 where appropriate.
If you already have a recent assessment, we can use it as a starting point. Otherwise, a gap review helps establish current state and prioritise uplift activities.
Yes. Our services include engineering implementation, configuration hardening, and remediation not just advisory.
Costs vary based on scope, maturity level, and environment size. We provide clear scoping and phased approaches to align uplift with budget and priorities.
Absolutely. We collaborate closely with internal teams and managed service providers to ensure solutions are sustainable and aligned to operational practices.
Yes. A core focus of uplift is building defensible evidence and governance practices that support audits and assurance activities.
Yes. Many organisations adopt a staged approach aligned to priorities, risk reduction, and available resources.
Start your Essential Eight uplift journey
Whether you need targeted remediation or a structured maturity program, we can help you strengthen controls, reduce risk, and build audit-ready security.