Virtual CIO Services

What is a Virtual CIO?

A Chief Information Officer (CIO) is the most senior technology executive inside an organisation. The role of the CIO is to oversee IT strategy and align the people, processes and technologies that support business objectives and goals. From information security to customer experience, the CIO will look to mitigate risks and drive business growth.

This is a leadership role, so the CIO is someone who focuses on vision and insight rather than someone you’ll find in the server room. Although they possess expert technical knowledge, it’s not uncommon for CIOs to have more of a business background, and this is essential when aligning strategy to operational needs.

The CIO is seen as the ships navigator, carefully planning the route ahead and steering the business safely through the seas of internal and external technology change. They will work closely with other C-level executives, senior managers and business departments to establish buy-in and drive that change.

Today especially, CIOs will have a focus on digital transformation and what that means for an organisation – both now and in the future.

The Virtual CIO (vCIO)

As the CIO has many business-critical responsibilities, the risks are consequently vast. They are often tasked with heading up crucial IT projects that are essential to the strategic and operational objectives of an organization. Failure can result in serious detrimental impact to business – and can even damage reputation. It’s therefore crucial the person responsible for making these key decisions has the relevant skills, knowledge and experience. This, however, comes at a price.

The average salary for a CIO is circa £96k per year (source: payscale.com July 2018). This is beyond the budget of most small and medium sized businesses. The result is that key IT strategic decisions are shared across senior management teams and often become the responsibility of staff who do not possess the relevant skills, or experience, to oversee these decisions. This, in turn, forces companies into making short-term tactical IT choices based on a specific pain or need, without considering the long-term impact to business.

Introducing the Cyan Virtual CIO (vCIO) service

The Cyan vCIO service will help you to make impactful, important technical decisions, overcome the challenges and pitfalls, and design a roadmap for the future. You will know what your business needs to take it to the next level, we will build and execute the plan to ensure the technology supports this growth. All within a comprehensive service, tailored and priced to your needs and budget.
Popular areas in which our vCIO service can take responsibility include:
  • Data security and privacy, cyber protection, business continuity and risk management
  • Regulatory control and management of any governance environment (eg GDPR)
  • Business-critical system integration and/or development – such as finance systems, CRM, ERP, Web Applications
  • Defining the useful life expectancy of your existing technology
  • Formulating IT budget to ensure that your technology meets all your company’s needs, even as it evolves
  • Aligning your business and people with the rapid technology changes occurring around it/them
  • Ensuring operational efficiencies
The service is delivered as a simple monthly subscription, or ad-hoc as and when required.

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