Begin with what the organisation must protect
List the systems, user accounts, data and providers the business depends on. Prioritise them by the impact of downtime or disclosure. This inventory connects security investment to actual business risk.
Control identity and access
Use multi-factor authentication, separate administrator privileges, remove inactive accounts and review access periodically. These fundamentals reduce common attack paths without requiring an expensive toolset.
Prepare to recover and respond
Backups matter only when restoration has been tested. The organisation should also know who decides, communicates and operates systems during an incident. A short plan that has been rehearsed is more useful than a long document nobody has used.