CIO Services
Fractional CIO & IT Strategy
Get the IT strategy of a Fortune 500 — at a small-business price.
Executive-level IT leadership without the executive-level salary — roadmaps, budgets, vendor management, and digital transformation.
What we're solving right now
Real-world problems landing on our desk.
Not evergreen marketing copy — the conversations we're actually having with Southeast US businesses in 2025 and 2026.
Founder is still running IT off the side of their desk
Strategic decisions about cloud, security, and AI keep getting deferred because nobody's accountable. We step in as the named CIO — present at leadership meetings, on the hook for outcomes, off your CEO's calendar.
Vendor stack sprawled to 40+ tools nobody has audited
Overlap, abandoned subscriptions, and renewals nobody renegotiates. We consolidate and negotiate — typically claw back 15–25% of the IT budget within 90 days, more than covering our retainer.
Board is asking about your AI strategy
You don't have one yet. We build a defensible 12-month plan: where ChatGPT / Claude / Copilot fit in your workflows, what data governance has to land first, and which experiments are worth running. With dollar figures the CFO can act on.
Cyber-insurance won't renew without governance signals
Underwriters increasingly require named IT leadership, documented risk register, and quarterly board reporting — not just technical controls. We provide the governance layer that keeps the policy in force.
M&A integration nobody planned for
Two AD forests, two Microsoft 365 tenants, two ERPs, two cultures. We scope the integration, sequence it against operational risk, and stand up the joint roadmap before the lawyers finish redlining.
Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing keeps changing and you can't model the ROI
Per-seat licensing math, productivity assumptions, and governance prerequisites — we build the business case from your actual usage data, not the marketing deck.
Outcomes
What you actually get.
Concrete deliverables and results — not vague promises.
- A 12- and 36-month technology roadmap aligned to your business goals
- An IT budget you can defend to your board
- Vendor consolidation and contract negotiation that pays for our services
- Digital-transformation projects led by someone who's done them before
- Quarterly board-level IT report covering risk, spend, roadmap progress, and AI posture
Capabilities
Inside the engagement.
Each capability is delivered by the same engineers who'll be supporting you long-term.
Strategy & roadmapping
Annual technology plan tied to revenue, margin, and risk — not features.
Budgeting & forecasting
Cap-ex, op-ex, and cloud-spend forecasting your CFO will actually trust.
Vendor management
We negotiate, hold vendors accountable, and consolidate redundant tools.
Risk & compliance oversight
Cybersecurity, data privacy, and regulatory posture reviewed quarterly.
Digital transformation
From paper to cloud — projects scoped, sequenced, and led to completion.
FAQ
Common questions.
Most of our CIO clients are 25–250 employees — large enough to need strategy, small enough that a full-time CIO doesn't pencil out.
Monthly retainer with a defined deliverable cadence — no hourly meter.
Related
Other services worth a look.
Managed IT
Proactive monitoring, patching, and unlimited help-desk for desktops, laptops, and end users — flat-fee per seat.
Cybersecurity
Endpoint detection, dark-web monitoring, phishing-resistant MFA, and security awareness training — built for SMBs.
Cloud Services
Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Workspace, hybrid infrastructure, VDI, and immutable cloud backup — designed and operated end-to-end.
Ready when you are
Let's talk about your IT.
A 30-minute call is all it takes to know whether we're the right partner. No pressure, no jargon, no obligation.
What to expect
- 130-minute discovery call
We listen first — your environment, pain points, and goals.
- 2Free IT assessment
Senior engineer reviews your stack and flags real risks.
- 3Plain-English roadmap
Clear scope, clear pricing. Walk away with a plan, not a pitch.