5 Great Reasons to Hire a Fractional CIO
Why a Fractional CIO? Small businesses have one person running things at the top, usually the CEO or the owner. This person is in charge of its many executive functions, from Finance to Technology and everything in between.
Although there comes the point that your business becomes too big, and it becomes challenging to execute all these roles while still trying to run the business, this is when most companies will hire outsource to specialists that can help these roles with the workload, but they don’t need these roles on a full-time basis
Enter the fractional CIO. In this role, the fractional executive works for several companies for a small number of hours weekly. The fractional CIO (Chief Information Officer) leads, directs, and manages these organizations’ IT. These companies pay for part of the time and only incur costs fractionally.
Even still, smaller companies do not see a need to pay for a CIO full-time since they are probably only needed part-time in most cases. Yet, with the speed of the digital wave transforming how the market operates, owners now see the need to invest in someone to help them stay competitive and profitable.
In this case, the best approach to getting the job done will be hiring a fractional CIO. These experts are driving significant change.
Here are some reasons to hire a fractional CIO for your business.
Flexibility
The fractional role of the CIO tends to vary over time. Some weeks, you need a CIO for a few hours; other times, you will need them for a few days. Fractional CIOs offer you an excellent level of flexibility, depending on your organizational needs. The fractional CIO can even help you decide how often you need to use them.
Working in a remote environment is another approach that will help the business grow and keep costs down. Using social distancing time will allow the employees to work effectively from home without worrying about their health.
A Fractional CIO Can Help You With Your Technological Debt.
The Technology team usually gets pressured to cut costs in most companies. Some organizations view their IT only as an overhead expense and never seen as a way to save costs or increase revenue by increasing customer satisfaction. However, if you continue to cut your investment in IT, there will be a point that you can get caught short, such as during a cyber attack, and then your competition can pull ahead. Fractional CIOs will give you a strategic roadmap to a practical solution, as well as timely guidance for your team.
An Effective Fractional CIO can help you with Planning.
A growing business will find it challenging to keep up with changes in administration, sales, finance without a plan. Hiring a fractional CIO will get you IT systems that match your growth level and don’t draw you back. In addition, the Fractional CIO will create a long-range plan for your IT department, including budgeting, human capital management, and incorporating emerging technology to help streamline processes and add value to your technology investments.
Fractional CIOs Can Save You Money.
Statica.com, a statistical research company, the average cost for a stolen record, depending on your industry, can cost you anywhere from $78 to $429 per record intangible costs. Data breaches incur more expense intangible costs than people would believe. Therefore, when you get multiple violations on your data accounts, it might cripple your company. A fractional CIO will create a system that will protect your organization against such issues, and you will have to save potential expenses on these violations.
You Have a Strategic Market Competitive Advantage.
Fractional CIOs come with real-world experience from working with several companies. An excellent fractional CIO will also stay updated with the latest trends in technology. Hiring a fractional CIO will help you decide on IT strategies that advantage you over competitors. Using a Fractional CIO will make your company stand out in your industry as a leader and increase your return.
In Summary
Hiring a fractional CIO who can bring the change your business needs is essential in today’s industry.
The top 3 priorities for CEOs are for CIOs to help businesses preserve through the current disruption. Research showed that the first three priorities are digital transformation activities and remote work experiences on top of the list (37% of the respondents choose these two.) Remote working (29%) as the third due to the current social distancing.
There is a lot more on the list, and it is pretty long.
You see why it’s good to hire a Fractional CIO. All of the above and more are bound to transform the business. CIOs will help you with the best strategies, save you from disasters, and reduce stress.
Your organization must stay caught up in this information technology era.
