Virtual CIOs (vCIOs) are experts at using technology to help protect your business, improve your processes, increase employee productivity, and support your efforts to meet your organization’s goals.
You can watch the below video or read through this article to learn about the top benefits of hiring a vCIO.
Some of the top benefits of hiring a vCIO include:
- Guidance
- Strategy & Planning
- Business Impact of Decisions
- Risk Management
- Budget Planning
What a VCIO is
A virtual CIO (vCIO) is a consultant serving as an organization’s Chief Information Officer (CIO).
The vCIO handles all responsibilities of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) or Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Large corporations require full-time CIOs to oversee everything technology-related and to create strategies that leverage technology to drive revenue.
SMBs also need the knowledge and perspective CIO’s provide, but many aren’t aware that they can receive the benefits of a CIO’s knowledge without investing in hiring someone full-time.
When to work with a vCIO:
For large organizations that already have a CIO, a vCIO is beneficial when:
- implementing security improvements
- going through a tech migration
- making infrastructure changes
- a network analysis is needed
- a risk assessment is needed
For SMBs, working with a vCIO is always necessary because of the high degree businesses rely on digital workspaces.
If you’re serious about growth, having a “tech guy” won’t cut it anymore.
We’re not suggesting to get rid of your tech guy. We’ve been the tech guy, and we know he’s great!
We’re merely suggesting to consider consulting with an expert who can leverage your technology to drive revenue, align your IT with your business goals, and protect your business in a time when cyber breaches are putting 60% of impacted SMBs out of business.
Top Benefits of Hiring a vCIO
Guidance
Your vCIO will serve as a technology guide who provides you with everything you need to know about your IT landscape, security measures, trends in the marketplace, and improvements to align your technology with your business goals.
When considering a vCIO, make sure they a broad background that enables them to understand your business and what it needs.
A qualified vCIO is someone who has/is running a business and has extensive experience as a project manager.
Strategy & Planning
Strategy is a subset of what a vCIO will do for your business.
When you sit down every month/quarter to run through your business objectives, your vCIO will ask you probing questions to ensure your IT is prepared to support your goals.
They’ll work with you to understand the full scope of your vision so they can create a strategy that aligns with what you need.
Your vCIO will create plans that cover:
- Security
- Utilizing and managing data that’s available but not easily accessible
- Replacing aging software and equipment
- Data storage
- New technology advances and trends
- Processes and procedures
Business Impact of Decisions
Every decision you make for your business relies on technology.
Your virtual CIO will have the perspective, experience, and diversity to give you clear communication about how IT decisions will impact your business.
A vCIO is a partner who can provide an important perspective on business decisions.
Risk Management
Your vCIO will provide you with user-friendly language that indicates where your organization’s technology is vulnerable or at risk.
Additionally, if you choose a qualified vCIO with a breadth of experience, they won’t ONLY advise you on technology risks.
For example, in Mindcore’s case, our vCIO model includes guidance about company-wide processes and procedures.
All qualified vCIOs will have this ability.
When searching for a vCIO, we recommend calling references to see how that vCIO impacted their business on a company-wide scale.
If your vCIO can only see the span of their technology projects, then they won’t have a full picture of how their IT projects will impact the business down the road.
Here are two primary questions that will ensure you’re working qualified vCIO:
- Have you run a business before (and for how long)?
- Are you certified in project management, and can you show me examples of successful projects in the past?
Budget Planning
Within every facet of your technology landscape, there’s an associated budget that requires a consistent analysis.
Your vCIO will provide a never-ending stream of budget-related guidance that is communicated to you regularly.
In respect to time, let’s consider one example of budget demands.
Under the Risk Management umbrella, your vCIO will suggest a budget for cybersecurity.
As with everything related to technology, cyber threats are constantly evolving. So, this budget will get analyzed and updated regularly (which doesn’t mean the budget will be increased regularly, sometimes it can get decreased because of new tools and methods).
Here is where a vCIO who doubles as a business owner stands out. Because they have skin in the game, they can understand the moving parts associated with budgeting.
Working with the right vCIO can take your business to heights you’ve never reached before.
Your vCIO can be a trusted advisor who will keep you updated on changes in the technology industry, cybersecurity, productivity, and processes.
In this article, we’ve only scratched the surface of how working with a vCIO will impact your business.
If you have any additional questions, please comment below, and we’ll get back to you right away.
Click here to learn more about Mindcore’s vCIO services.
Watch the below video to hear Mindcore’s CEO speak about the service you should expect from your vCIO…
Learn More About Matt
Matt Rosenthal is CEO and President of Mindcore, a full-service tech firm. He is a leader in the field of cyber security, designing and implementing highly secure systems to protect clients from cyber threats and data breaches. He is an expert in cloud solutions, helping businesses to scale and improve efficiency.
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