A virtual chief information officer is the part of an IT contract most often included on the brochure and least often delivered. In its honest form it is somebody senior, named, who spends a stated number of days a year on your business: understanding what it needs, planning what changes, owning the budget conversation and being useful when a decision has to be made. In its dishonest form it is a quarterly meeting where your provider presents its own roadmap and calls IT strategy.
What the days of IT strategy consulting should produce
Four things a year, and they are checkable. A current picture: what you have, what it costs, what is nearing end of life. A plan with dates and costs against it, ordered by what the business needs rather than by what is easiest to sell. A budget for the coming year that finance can actually use. And a risk position stated plainly, including what is being accepted rather than fixed. Ask for the format of each of these before agreeing a retainer.
IT advisory services from your own provider: the conflict, and how to handle it
When the vCIO works for the firm that would deliver the recommendations, the advice is not independent, and everybody knows it. That does not make it worthless: the person who runs your estate knows it best. It does mean two things are worth doing. Ask that the plan names options it is not selling, including doing nothing. And consider buying the assessment separately once every couple of years, from somebody who cannot win the work that follows.
How much time is enough
For a business under a hundred people, a serious version is measured in days rather than hours: perhaps one day a quarter of preparation and presence, plus availability when a decision arrives. Ask what number of days is in the fee, who specifically holds the role by name, whether they have ever run IT in a business of your size, and what happens to the arrangement if that person leaves the provider.
What IT assessments should contain before a strategy is written
An inventory of hardware, software, licences and their renewal dates. What each application is for and who depends on it. Where data lives. What is out of support. What the current annual spend actually is, which surprises most owners. And the gaps between that picture and what the business says it wants to do next year. A strategy written without those six is a preference, and this is the document to insist on first.
Questions people ask about virtual cio services
What does a virtual chief information officer do?
Owns the technology picture, the plan, the budget and the risk position on your behalf, for a stated number of days a year, as a named person.
Is a vCIO from our own provider independent?
No, and it can still be useful. Ask for the plan to name options the provider is not selling, and buy an independent assessment occasionally.
How many days should a vCIO retainer include?
For a business under a hundred people, roughly a day a quarter plus availability. Ask for the number, the name of the person and what happens if they leave.
What should an IT assessment produce?
An inventory with renewal dates, application ownership, where data lives, what is out of support, the true annual spend, and the gaps against next year's plans.