Large companies have a Chief Information Officer whose job is to make sure technology supports the business: planning upgrades, setting budgets, choosing vendors and managing risk. Small and medium businesses need the same thinking, but rarely need or can afford a full-time executive to do it.
That is where a vCIO, or virtual CIO, comes in.
What a vCIO actually does
- Builds a technology roadmap for the next one to three years, covering what to upgrade, what to replace and what it will cost.
- Plans the IT budget so computer replacements, software renewals and projects are expected rather than surprises.
- Helps choose vendors and software and deals with them on your behalf.
- Reviews risk, including security, backups and single points of failure.
- Meets with leadership regularly to review what is working and what is changing in the business.
How it differs from IT support
IT support fixes today’s problems: a printer that will not print, a locked account, a slow computer. A vCIO looks further ahead and asks whether the technology you have is the technology you will need next year. Many businesses benefit from both, and they work best when the same team handles them.
Signs you could use one
- Technology costs feel unpredictable from year to year
- Big decisions, such as new software or an office move, get made without a clear plan
- Nobody owns the relationship with your internet, phone and software vendors
- You are growing and your systems are starting to show it
- You are not sure how secure your business really is
What it costs
A vCIO is typically a part-time role, often a quarterly meeting with work in between, so the cost is a fraction of a full-time hire. The goal is for good planning to save more than it costs by avoiding emergency purchases, unused licenses and preventable downtime.
Learn more about our IT consulting and vCIO services, or start with a free IT checkup to see where your technology stands today.
