What is a vCIO?

Technology

Fully Managed means “Full Service”, and we take pride in offering our customers an entire roster of subject matter experts, thought leaders and innovators. We work hard to tailor each customer’s I.T. plan to their specific needs. This is where a vCIO, or Virtual Chief Information Officer, comes in. You may have heard the term vCIO in the last few years and thought “yay...another acronym”. But this is one we think is increasingly important for many small and medium-sized businesses to be aware of. Read on and learn more about what a vCIO is, and how they can help you manage your technology and business. 

The CIO (or Chief Information Officer) is typically an executive level I.T. professional who has the responsibility of applying appropriate technology to help their company achieve its business objectives. Many, if not most, small to mid-sized companies cannot afford the expense of a full-time CIO.  However, the need to leverage technology to effectively run your business, while controlling costs, is real and necessary. 

That’s where a vCIO comes in.  A vCIO is a consultant resource that can provide traditional CIO services, when you need it, meaning on a part time, as needed or hourly basis.  A Fully Managed vCIO works directly with clients at the executive level performing many of the functions of a conventional CIO. They work as an advocate for our clients, not as part of the sales team, meaning they have no quota to fill. The vCIO focuses on understanding the business, its processes and the role and impact of the organization’s technology.   

With the guidance and support of our vCIO’s, Fully Managed is able to provide the following for our customer’s, with their best interests in mind: 

  • Strategic IT Goals 
  • A Technology Roadmap 
  • Smart I.T. Budget 
  • Identify opportunities for innovation or new technologies 
  • Analyze current business processes and innovate where needed 
  • ​Facilitate technology projects and changes 

The Fully Managed approach means having a team of technology experts working for you and this can have its advantages. By working with a vCIO we can help you: 

  1. Create a predictable technology budget. 
  2. Decrease your I.T. operating costs and improve productivity. 
  3. ​Improved Security, business continuity, disaster recovery and compliance planning…etc. 

The goal of our Fully Managed vCIO team is to ultimately guide your business to a technology model that aligns with your priorities, aiming to secure your data, maximize uptime for your staff and reduce unexpected outages and unpredictable costs. With the use of a technology roadmap and creating a viable technology budget, Fully Managed can help ensure you are investing your money where it will have the most impact on your business; giving you the confidence and peace of mind, that your technology is working for you.  
 

Are you constantly putting out I.T. “fires” for your company? Is your team experiencing downtime, even with a managed service provider? Or maybe you have questions on how a vCIO can help your business? Reach out to us today, we would love to start working on your technology roadmap!