Microsoft 365 is a board-level risk.
It is rarely governed as one.
Independent assurance over Microsoft 365 configuration to support board oversight
Boards are accountable for operational resilience, data protection, and digital risk. Microsoft 365 underpins identity, access, and collaboration in most organisations, yet its configuration is rarely subject to independent, board-grade assurance. Inquilion provides the governance evidence boards increasingly require.
The governance gap
Boards are accountable for operational resilience, data protection, and digital risk.
Microsoft 365 underpins identity, access, and collaboration across most organisations.
Despite this central role, configuration is typically treated as an operational concern, delegated to management or suppliers, and reported indirectly.
Independent, board-grade assurance is rare. Oversight is often assumed rather than evidenced, and configuration risk is not tracked as a standing governance control.
Independent assurance as a governance control
Inquilion exists to provide independent assurance over Microsoft 365 configuration, framed explicitly for board oversight.
It operates outside day-to-day management and delivery, providing boards with objective evidence on whether identity, access, and data controls are operating in line with risk appetite and governance expectations.
Assurance is presented in board-grade terms: clear scope, repeatable assessment, and evidence suitable for audit, risk, and regulatory scrutiny.
Configuration risk becomes visible, monitorable, and governable as a standing control.
What boards receive
Boards receive independent assurance over Microsoft 365 configuration, presented in a form designed for governance, oversight, and external scrutiny — not operational management.
Defined scope and coverage
Clear articulation of what has been assessed, across identity, access, and data controls, aligned to governance expectations and risk appetite.
Clear findings and material gaps
Configuration is assessed against expected control outcomes, with clarity on where controls are operating as intended, where gaps exist, and where residual risk remains.
Board-grade evidence
Findings are supported by evidence suitable for audit, risk, and regulatory scrutiny, enabling confident challenge, escalation, and external assurance where required.
Repeatability and trend visibility
Assurance is repeatable and comparable over time, allowing configuration risk to be tracked as a standing governance control rather than a one-off review.
How this fits within existing governance
Inquilion is designed to complement, not replace, existing governance and assurance functions.
It does not duplicate management reporting, operational monitoring, or supplier attestations, and it does not perform configuration, remediation, or day-to-day oversight. Those responsibilities remain with management.
Equally, Inquilion is distinct from internal audit. Its role is not to provide broad organisational assurance, but to offer focused, repeatable assurance over a critical digital dependency that is often under-governed.
By sitting between operational reporting and internal audit, Inquilion provides boards with an independent line of sight into Microsoft 365 configuration risk, enabling more informed challenge, clearer accountability, and stronger overall oversight.
Cadence and continuity of assurance
Ongoing governance assurance
For boards, Microsoft 365 configuration risk is most effectively governed as a standing control.
Inquilion supports repeatable, independent assurance at an agreed cadence, enabling boards and committees to maintain an objective line of sight into configuration risk over time. This allows changes in risk posture to be tracked, emerging issues to be identified early, and management responses to be challenged on the basis of evidence.
In this mode, assurance becomes part of the normal governance rhythm, supporting sustained oversight rather than episodic intervention.
Event-based and transaction assurance
Inquilion can also be applied at specific governance events where independent assurance is required.
This includes use in transaction, investment, or due diligence contexts, as well as during periods of significant organisational or technology change. In these situations, assurance provides boards, investors, and committees with objective evidence on configuration risk at a defined point in time.
Event-based assurance uses the same governance framing and evidence standards, without embedding operational activity or delivery into the organisation.