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Tender readiness

Answer the security schedule with evidence.

Government buyers and large enterprises put security questions in every tender. We get the controls working, the certificate issued and the evidence assembled, so each answer has something behind it.

Talk to us about a tenderGovernment buyers

Tender readiness

What a security schedule asks.

Tenders carry their own mandated controls, insurances and evidence obligations, set contract by contract.

  • Essential Eight maturity

    Agencies are assessed against it, and suppliers are increasingly asked for a stated level.

  • A certificate

    A dated certificate on a public registry that a buyer can check in a minute.

  • An incident path

    A response plan that has been rehearsed, and a number to call.

  • A named security lead

    Someone whose answers stand up when the evaluator asks a follow-up question.

How it works

How we get a supplier ready.

A defined program sequenced against the closing date, and evidence a buyer can verify.

  1. Read the schedule

    The controls, insurances and evidence the tender names, mapped against where you stand.

  2. Close the gaps

    Multi-factor authentication, privilege separation, backups and policies, implemented and tested.

  3. Certificate

    SMB1001 readiness through to CyberCert’s certificate on its public registry.

  4. Evidence pack

    Policies, records and configuration proof organised against each question.

Services

The work that applies.

  • SMB1001 certification readiness

    Gap assessment against your target tier, evidence pack, remediation plan and support through certification.

    From A$3,950ex GST

  • Essential Eight assessment

    Maturity assessed against all eight controls, a written report and an uplift plan.

    From A$5,950ex GST

  • vCISO

    A named security lead who stands behind the answers and keeps the program moving.

  • Incident readiness

    A response plan for your team, a tabletop exercise and a verified backup restore.

On the record

We bid on the same schedules.

Black Shard answers these questions in its own tenders, and holds the arrangements government buyers engage under.

Report: Security questionnaires and tenders: what buyers ask, and how to answer

  • Local Buy LB308

    Pre-qualified supplier to Queensland councils under Local Buy arrangement LB308, ICT Solutions, Products, Services and New Technologies.

    Appointed 23 Oct 2026

  • NSW ICT Services Scheme

    Prequalified supplier under the NSW Government ICT Services Scheme (SCM0020).

    Registered 14 Oct 2026

  • Victorian Fair Jobs Code

    Holder of Victorian Fair Jobs Code pre-assessment certificate FJC-261023-11119, required for Victorian Government threshold and high-value procurement.

    23 Oct 2026 to 22 Oct 2028

  • 3Government buyer groups ready to buy from us

  • We bid into federal and state agencies.

  • Tender responses built from our own records: certificates, insurance and the work we have delivered.

Reading

From the newsroom.

Visit the newsroom

Questions, answered.

Which Essential Eight level do tenders ask for?

Maturity Level 1 across all eight is the baseline supplier questionnaires commonly have in mind, and contracts touching government supply chains increasingly specify Level 2.

Is SMB1001 accepted in government tenders?

SMB1001 now appears in Australian supply-chain questionnaires, tenders and cyber insurance proposals. Each tender names what it accepts, so we read the schedule first.

Can you write our tender response?

We prepare the security evidence and stand behind the technical answers. The response itself, and every commercial term in it, stays yours.

How far ahead of the closing date should we start?

As early as the schedule is known. The gap-closing work sets the timeline, and a certificate has to issue before the closing date to count.

Go deeper

Related.

Other situations.

Tell us the tender and the closing date.

We read the security schedule and come back with what it will take.

Talk to us about a tenderAll solutions