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What is BEIA, and when is it worth it?

The BEIA enterprise assessment (Business Enterprise Infrastructure Assessment) takes a broader look at a company’s starting position and prepares strategic decisions in a single pass: the Executive Fast Track. It condenses the enterprise view of business, organization, data, and IT into one day on site with both Managing Partners. The result is Management Clarity: the Enterprise Assessment Book with ten components, culminating in a decision paper. The BEIA fits before a major decision, investment, acquisition, or succession.

Author Thomas Wassum, Managing PartnerLast reviewed

Legal information as of October 17, 2026. This article is not legal advice.

Scope

Eight layers, two cross-cutting views

BEIA answers the guiding question: how is our company set up today, what risks exist, and what target architecture do we need for our business vision? It looks at eight layers: business context at the top; below it, capabilities, operating model, governance, and service providers; and data, applications, and technology as the foundation. Security, Risk & Compliance runs across all layers, and AI readiness across business, data, and technology.

The business sits at the top, organization and governance below it, and data and technology form the foundation. That way every technical finding is traced back to what it means for goals and business model.

Process

Before, on the day, after

The Executive Fast Track condenses the full enterprise view into a single day. That works because your team provides the key documents in advance: organization chart, strategy and current projects, an overview of systems, infrastructure documentation, contracts with key service providers, and security and data protection policies. On the day itself, the focus is on interviews, a walk-through, assessment, and prioritization.

Three phases

  1. Before

    Documents and agenda

    Your team provides the documents; we review them and agree on the agenda.

  2. On the day

    One day on site

    Both Managing Partners conduct the interviews and the walk-through, then assess and prioritize.

  3. After

    Assessment Book and presentation

    We prepare the Enterprise Assessment Book and present it to leadership.

Outcome

Ten components, one basis for decisions

The Enterprise Assessment Book organizes the results around four questions. Today: where do we stand? Target: where do we want to go? Path: what needs to be done? Decision: what follows from it? It opens with an executive summary and closes with the management decision paper, which brings options, impact, and effort together for leadership.

Today: where do we stand?

Executive Summary
The key findings and recommendations, condensed for leadership.
Current State Architecture
The current setup across all eight layers.
Risk Register
All risks with assessment, owner, and action.
Risk Heatmap
Risks mapped by likelihood and impact.

Target and path: what needs to be done?

Gap Analysis
Current and target state side by side: what has to change where.
Target State Architecture
The target architecture for your business vision.
Prioritized Action Catalog
All actions, ranked by impact, urgency, and effort.
Investment Areas
Areas where investment has the greatest effect on goals and risks.
Transformation Roadmap
The sequence and steps of implementation.

Decision: what follows from it?

Management Decision Paper
The decision paper with options, impact, and effort.

Questions from leadership

What executives ask about it

What does my team need to prepare for BEIA?

The key documents, in two stages. Ten days before: the organization chart, strategy, current projects, and confirmed time slots with leadership, IT, and business units. Five days before: the system overview, infrastructure documentation, contracts with key service providers, security and data protection policies, and known vulnerabilities. We bring any open points to the day as questions.

What happens after BEIA?

You decide, based on the management decision paper, whether and how to proceed. Before major decisions, the Enterprise Variation Method often follows to assess options for the target architecture, then architecture and implementation. Every phase ends with a result that stands on its own, with no obligation to continue.

Does BEIA replace a legal review or a penetration test?

No. BEIA takes requirements such as those from the GDPR, NIS2, and GoBD (German rules for digital bookkeeping records) into account from an architecture and risk perspective. Legal review, penetration testing, detailed technical design, and implementation are not included.

As of October 2026 · not legal advice

Author and sources

Who answers, and what it rests on

Sources and further reading

  1. SIMO GmbH: BEIA service description, Business Enterprise Infrastructure Assessment, Executive Fast Track, with glossary, 2026
  2. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) (external site)
  3. Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2) (external site)
  4. German Federal Ministry of Finance: GoBD, principles for the proper keeping and retention of books, records, and documents in electronic form and for data access [in German]

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