A Fractional Chief Information Officer (CIO) is a part-time executive level role in charge of information processing. The CIO brings strategic and tactical direction and support for critical business goals. (S)he leverages business acumen, along with a clear understanding of and ability to translate technology to mitigate waste and risk, and maximize opportunity and profit.

Though small to mid-market companies often cannot afford the full-time services of a CIO, they are still faced with the responsibilities a CIO normally fulfills:

• Alignment between IT and business strategies
• Management of IT leadership
• Business Risk management and IT
• Defining IT technology standards
• IT security, compliance and governance
• Key Performance metrics established
• Performance status
• Resource decision-making
• Management of vendors and contract negotiations
• Board advisor

Most companies just don’t have the capacity to address all of these, nor do they have the employees with the capability to handle all of these. At a fraction of the cost of a CIO, companies can be confident they have addressed three common concerns:

• They are concerned that their data and business may be susceptible to a cyber-attack and that their careers would be jeopardized if such an attack should occur.
• They are frustrated by their lack of understanding of IT issues, products and solutions, and often feel ill-suited to managing their IT team.
• Their IT team members, in turn, are frustrated reporting to a senior management that does not share their IT backgrounds and often reject their recommendations due to this lack of understanding and experience.

A fractional CIO will RISE to your company need:

1. They will Research needs and recommend solutions with unbiased, outside eyes.
2. providing you right technology for real business need
3. They will Interpret business requirements for digital transformation.
4. providing you creation and oversight of IT direction
5. providing you creation and oversight of IT standards
6. providing you creation and oversight of IT policies
7. They will Set strategies.
8. Alignment of IT performance with organizational objectives
9. They will Establish strategic partnerships and enter into contract negotiations

As a result, you will move into digital transformation with a defined, updated and implemented IT strategy, with controlled performance objectives and budget maintenance, appropriate software and hardware and managed IT initiatives and applications.

In other words, you can breathe easy.