In small to mid-sized businesses, there’s usually one person at the helm. It’s usually a founder, owner, or some other business leader, and this person is overloaded with responsibilities. Unlike large enterprises, smaller businesses don’t have the fulltime need or capital to hire a designated professional for every operational area. So the business leader(s) tasked with staying on top of all operational areas themselves.

However, because IT plays such a crucial role in optimizing business processes and strategy,  at a certain point its prudent to look outside of the organization for help. The good news is that there are options. Small to mid-sized businesses can access big business capabilities by hiring a part-time IT expert to drive optimization before they need to pay a full-time salary.

So why a Fractional vCIO or vCTO?

Smaller businesses don’t necessarily have the financial or operational means to support a full-time CIO or CTO. That’s why, many smaller organizations are choosing to invest in a fractional experts. A fractional vCIO or vCTO holds all the same responsibilities as an FTE but they just apply their expertise on a more as needed part-time basis, and usually for a fixed rate.

This way, small-to-mid-sized businesses are able to take advantage of all the strategic business benefits of working with a vCIO or vCTO without dedicating huge amounts of financial resources to the job. What’s not to love?

Sounds great but which do I need vCIO or vCTO?

Generally speaking a CIO typically looks inward, aiming to improve processes within the company, while the CTO looks outward, using technology to improve or innovate products that serve the customers. That is not to say in some cases either of the roles will do both, but will have a distinct primary focus