vCIO and technology advisory
Executive-level technology leadership, a few days a month, for companies with an IT manager but no CIO.
IT questions the team can execute but not answer
Most mid-market IT teams are staffed to execute, not to set strategy. They can keep the lights on, run the help desk, and manage the day-to-day, but the questions a board or a PE sponsor asks, what's the three-year technology roadmap, what's the risk exposure, how should the budget be sequenced, don't have a natural owner.
Hiring a full-time CIO doesn't make sense at most of this size. The work is real, but it's a few days a month of executive judgment, not a full-time role.
A vCIO relationship fills that gap: technology leadership on a fractional basis, focused on the roadmap, the budget, and the board-level conversation, while your internal team keeps executing.
What's included
- 12-month technology roadmapProjects sequenced and prioritized by risk reduced and value created, with the reasoning attached.
- IT budget modelingRun costs, project costs, and renewals in one model finance can actually interrogate.
- Vendor and contract reviewA second set of eyes on major technology contracts and vendor relationships.
- Risk registerAging systems, single points of failure, and contract cliffs, each with a cost of inaction attached.
- Board and ownership reportingTechnology updates translated into language a board or ownership group actually wants to hear.
- Quarterly business reviewsA standing checkpoint on progress against the roadmap, not a one-time engagement that goes stale.
How the engagement runs
- 01Roadmap sprintAn initial deep engagement to build the roadmap, budget model, and risk register. This is exactly what our IT Roadmap Sprint delivers.
- 02Ongoing advisoryA few days a month of executive technology leadership: reviewing progress, advising on decisions, and updating the roadmap as things change.
- 03Quarterly reviewsA standing checkpoint with leadership on where the roadmap stands and what's next.
Technologies and platforms
- Budget & roadmap modeling
- Risk registers
- Vendor scorecards
- Board reporting
Proof
Every recommendation in a vCIO engagement is independent: nothing on the roadmap earns us a vendor commission, which changes what ends up on it.
Common questions
How is this different from hiring a full-time CIO?
A full-time CIO makes sense at a certain scale; below that, the work is real but part-time. A vCIO relationship gives you the judgment without the full-time cost.
Does this replace our IT manager?
No. The vCIO sets strategy and reports to leadership; your IT manager keeps running day-to-day operations. The two roles work alongside each other.
How many days a month is realistic?
Varies by company size and how active the roadmap is in a given quarter, typically a small number of days per month after the initial roadmap sprint.
Do you present to our board directly?
Yes, when that's useful. Board and ownership reporting translated into language they actually want to hear is part of the service.
Related services
Tell us what question your board keeps asking that IT can't answer.
That question is usually the right place to start a vCIO conversation.