What is a vCIO? In a world with never-ending acronyms, what’s one more right? However, we think a vCIO can be just what your company needs that allows you to stop working on the business and start working in it. Technology is no longer just something we do on our computers. In many cases, it is something we could not run our businesses without.
When you think of any C-level position, CIO may be one you think of shortly after CEO and CFO. A CIO, in brief terms, is the person who is tasked with a company’s technology strategy and planning initiatives. Essentially this individual is the one who is the “overseer” and “translator” for everything technology-driven and who reports the condition of said technology back to the executive leadership.
So think about your business for a moment. What all does technology “touch” in your business today? Technology is intertwined into almost every aspect of today’s businesses. From how we communicate with others, access and share information and data, perform our daily tasks, and even gain access to our buildings, technology is the magic that makes that happen. This is where a CIO would come into play. However, most businesses, especially small and medium ones, can’t hire this level of resource. Enter the vCIO or virtual Chief Information Officer.
Most companies have heard of or may already be utilizing a managed services provider for their IT needs. As technology continues to get more complex and the need for further specialization increases, the managed services approach allows a company to employ an entire team of specialized technicians and resources without providing direct individual compensation and benefits or worry about absences caused by PTO, turnover, and HR-related issues. Your managed services provider should already be providing services like helpdesk and deploying a security toolset like antivirus and antispam. So who manages these techs and provides a technology roadmap, strategy, and planning services? This is where the vCIO comes in.
To fully maximize the value and benefit of having a vCIO, you should be looking to include this person in your leadership meetings sharing things that affect your business. This person should work with your leadership to listen to issues and develop plans to utilize technology to solve those issues. Planning how and when to update hardware, assisting with new software implementation planning, educating leadership into the latest security concerns, and adapting to the fast-changing world we live in is all in a day’s work for a vCIO. A good question to ask yourself here would be, “How well did we handle the sudden interruption of a pandemic and the work-from-home initiative?” Can you think of where a vCIO would have been able to take a large portion of that responsibility off your shoulders?
A vCIO should act as a CIO would operate within your organization. They help manage the helpdesk and ensure the technicians assist your end-users and solve your technology problems. They also help form the bigger picture of how your business uses technology, help prepare a budget and plan for that future, and work with additional experts and vendors to help identify and mitigate risks within your organization’s technology.
At BerganKDV, our managed IT services include a vCIO offering that is tailored to meet the technology needs of your business. To learn more about what our vCIOs can do for you, we encourage you to contact our team with your questions.
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