Virtual CIO Service
Senior technology advice on retainer, for the regional organisations that need a CIO-grade voice in the room without the cost of hiring one.
When organisations come to us for this
Three patterns:
After a diagnostic, ready to act. The prioritised actions need a senior advisor to sequence them into a roadmap, drive the work, and hold the result to a standard.
A CIO-sized gap, without the CIO-sized cost. The organisation’s complexity has grown past what the team can carry — but a permanent CIO is too much, too soon.
A senior voice for a specific moment. A capital raise, an acquisition, a regulatory shift, a cyber scare, a system replacement. Something has arrived and the organisation needs senior advice to navigate it.
What the service includes
A Virtual CIO Service engagement is shaped to the organisation, but the core substance is consistent:
Strategy. Translating the prioritised actions into a sequenced two- to three-year roadmap. Setting quarterly priorities. Reviewing them.
Oversight. Steering active technology projects. Holding vendors to account. Reviewing the work as it lands, before it lands.
Decision support. A senior, independent voice on the calls that matter — investments, vendor selection, AI adoption, cyber posture, system replacements.
Governance reporting. Preparing the technology section of governance papers — for boards, councils, leadership teams, family meetings, however the organisation makes decisions.
Executive presence. Sitting alongside the leadership team in the meetings where technology is a recurring agenda item.
What we don’t do is deliver the technology itself. Your internal team and your MSP run the operational layer. We sit a layer above.
The three tiers
Three tiers, shaped by the cadence and seniority the organisation needs. Tiers can be scaled up or down with a month’s notice — most organisations move between them as the work changes.
Foundation
The lightest cadence. For organisations who need a senior advisor on call but don’t yet need executive presence in every meeting.
- Quarterly leadership conversations.
- On-call advisory between conversations.
- Annual priorities refresh.
- Reactive support on procurement, vendor and decision-support questions.
Best for: post-diagnostic organisations driving their own actions, or organisations who need a senior sounding board rather than a permanent seat.
Strategic
The most common tier. For organisations actively working through a programme of technology change.
- Monthly leadership meeting attendance.
- Active project oversight.
- Quarterly governance-pack preparation.
- Vendor management and procurement support.
Best for: organisations executing a roadmap, replacing systems, lifting cyber posture, or carrying through the actions from a recent diagnostic.
Executive
The deepest cadence. For organisations where technology is now a leadership-level agenda item and needs a senior voice in the room continuously.
- A seat in the leadership team.
- Ownership of the technology agenda.
- Attendance at governance meetings.
- Direct stewardship of the technology roadmap and the people delivering it.
Best for: complex organisations facing material technology change, regulatory pressure, or scale-up where a permanent CIO is on the horizon but the right hire hasn’t been made yet.
Pricing for each tier is fixed and shared on first conversation.
How the engagement works
A Virtual CIO Service engagement is built to be flexible without becoming open-ended.
Monthly retainer. Fixed fee, fixed scope per tier. No surprises on the invoice.
One month’s notice. To scale up, scale down, switch tier or end. No long contracts, no early-termination clauses.
Same advisor, every time. The person you brief is the person doing the work. Continuity is the point.
Engaged on the cadence the organisation needs. Monthly leadership meetings, quarterly governance-pack preparation, on-call support between sessions — the tier sets the frame, the work shapes the rhythm.
Where we sit alongside your MSP
We work above the operational layer, not in place of it. Your MSP runs the infrastructure, the support desk, the day-to-day delivery. We set the strategy, hold the vendors and projects to account, and make sure the technology decisions get made for the right reasons.
In practice that means we’re often the bridge — translating between the leadership team and the MSP, asking the questions the leadership team can’t, holding the technical detail the leadership team doesn’t need to.
The MSP relationship doesn’t change because we’re in the room. It usually improves.
What the first ninety days look like
Most engagements settle into rhythm in the first quarter. A rough shape:
Weeks one to four.
Onboarding. We meet the leadership team, the internal technology people, the MSP, and any active project leads. We read the prior diagnostic if there is one. We get a working view of the priorities, the risks and the in-flight work.
Weeks five to eight.
First leadership session. Initial governance-pack contribution. We set the cadence for the next quarter.
Weeks nine to twelve.
First quarterly priorities review. We surface what’s working, what’s stuck, and what the next quarter should focus on.
By the end of the first quarter, the rhythm is established, the leadership team has a senior technology voice in the room, and the roadmap is starting to move.
Common questions
Do you replace our internal IT team?
No. We sit above them. The internal team and the MSP run the operational layer; we set the strategy and the priorities they’re working to.
What if we already have a CIO?
Most organisations who already have a CIO don’t need this service. Where it does fit is alongside a CIO-on-secondment, a CIO in their first ninety days, or a CIO carrying a specific programme that needs a second senior voice.
Can you sit on the board?
We can attend governance meetings as a technology advisor. We’re not a director and we don’t take board seats — that’s a different role with a different posture.
Do you have a minimum term?
No. One month’s notice, either direction.
Do you take vendor commissions?
No. Revenue comes from the retainer, full stop.
Book a 30-minute discovery call
We’ll talk through what you need and which tier — if any — is the right shape.
Book a discovery call