Businesses deserve straight answers about technology.
Steelwise is a technology advisory practice based in Sheffield. We help businesses make smart decisions about security, infrastructure, and AI, backed by over two decades of doing the work, not just advising on it.
Come for a coffee and tell us what's going on with your techServices
You know what your business needs to do. You don't always know what's technically possible, which technology fits, or who's best placed to deliver and maintain it. That's what we're here for.
Security advisory
Honest assessment of where you stand, what actually matters, and what to do next. Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, posture reviews, incident preparedness, all prioritised by real risk, not fear. We tell you what's enough, not sell you the maximum.
Web and infrastructure advisory
Architecture decisions, platform choices, hosting strategy, reliability, performance. We don't sell hosting or software. We help you choose what's right, whether you're building something new or making sense of what you've already got.
AI advisory
Practical guidance on where AI fits in your business, and where it doesn't. Readiness assessments, risk and governance, separating genuine value from hype. Not every business needs AI right now, and we'll say so.
Coordinated delivery
When you need more than advice, we coordinate delivery through a network of specialists, not tied to any vendor or product. One relationship, one person accountable, and someone joining up security, infrastructure, and AI so you don't have to manage it all yourself.
How we work
We don't start with a sales pitch. We start with a conversation.
A coffee and a conversation
Free, face to face, no strings. Tell us what's going on with your tech, what's keeping you up at night, or what you're trying to figure out. If we can help, we'll say so. If we can't, we'll point you to someone who can.
A first piece of work
A defined engagement: a security review, an architecture assessment, a clear deliverable. Scoped tightly to what you actually need and quoted at a fixed price, agreed in writing before anything starts. Designed to demonstrate value before asking for commitment.
An ongoing relationship
For most clients, the real value is having someone to call. We become your technology person, across security, infrastructure, and AI. When you need deeper specialist work, we coordinate it through our network. One relationship, no vendor lock-in, and someone who knows your business.
Recent filings
Practical thinking on security, infrastructure, and AI. No thought leadership for the sake of it.
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The backup that saved the data and lost the evidence
· Security Infrastructure
An NHS Trust reused a script, pointed it at the wrong database, and overwrote 11 years of maternity records. The clinical data came back. The record of who had looked at it did not, and that is the part most businesses never back up either.
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One borrowed login turned the ASOS app into the ransom note
· Security
ASOS says an attacker talked one employee out of their login, then used it on outside platforms the retailer relies on to reach its customers. Nobody broke into the shop. The question for every business is which outside services can message your customers or read your customer list, and whose login opens them.
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Why AI defence will not cancel out AI attackers
· Security AI
Attackers can point AI at a purely technical problem and let it run. Defence is held up by budget, change approval, and the fear of breaking production, which no product fixes. Why the answer to AI-assisted attacks is not an AI security product.
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The test site that holds your real customers
· Security
Somebody needed to test a change, so they copied the live customer database into a test site. That was months ago. The test site is still running, still reachable, and still full of real people. Nobody owns it, because it was never meant to exist this long.
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What September's Microsoft updates broke, and how to fix each one
· Infrastructure
September's Microsoft updates stopped backups, broke VPN connections, deactivated older copies of Office, and sent saved PDFs to the wrong place. Five problems, the workaround for each, and why the answer is still not to stop updating.
About
Steelwise exists because most businesses can't get a straight answer about technology. The security industry defaults to jargon and fear. MSPs want to sell you a contract. Consultancies send juniors. What's missing is a practice that's experienced, broad, honest, and genuinely interested in your specific problem.
We're built on a partnership model: a small, trusted team backed by a network of specialists. You always get senior people who've actually done the work. No juniors, no handoffs, no learning on your time.
Our founder, Carl, has spent over 22 years working across security, web infrastructure, data, and AI. He's served as CTO, CISO, and DPO for a web hosting company in regulated sectors including fintech, edtech, healthcare, and SaaS. He built Steelwise because he kept seeing the same problem: businesses getting complexity instead of clarity.
That breadth is unusual. Most advisors specialise in one lane. We deal with all of it, because that's what running a real technology business actually requires.
We're not tied to any product or vendor. We don't take commissions, and everything we deliver is yours. If you need a second opinion on what your IT provider is telling you, that's exactly the kind of conversation we're here for.
More about how we work, or read about Carl Heaton, who founded the practice.