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November 27, 2024Benefits of Fractional IT Support
The boardroom tables of small to medium sized enterprises generally look very different to those of larger enterprises. Whilst it wouldn’t be uncommon to find a Finance Director or an Operations Director in smaller organisations, it would be uncommon to find an IT Director, CIO, or particularly an Information Security Manager or CISO at these tables.
Economit provides on-tap fractional support to fill these important positions for you, from its team of highly accredited and certified industry professionals to operate as either your IT Director, CIO (Chief Information Officer), CISO (Chief Information Security Officer), or DPO (Data Protection Officer). These virtual positions are also known as fractional services because our professionals provide the service to you using a 'fraction' of the time and at a 'fraction' of the cost (compared to full-time employees). Fractional IT services provide the flexibility, expertise, and strategic oversight needed to drive your business forward.
Economit's virtual team provides independent and strategic IT leadership and direction based on many decades of experience. They'll bring the skills and confidence your business needs, enabling immediate access to specialised expertise without the delays, costs or typical pain of finding and hiring full-time staff. This can be particularly beneficial for growth aspirational small and medium-sized companies.
Virtual CIOs and CISOs are rapidly increasing in popularity for businesses seeking high-level IT and cybersecurity leadership without the expense of hiring full-time executives. A virtual CIO oversees your IT strategy, aligning your technology systems with business goals, whilst a virtual CISO focuses on safeguarding your business’ information and information systems from cyber threats, ensuring your data remains secure and your organisation remains compliant.
The financial benefits of Fractional CIOs and CISOs
- Effectiveness: You only pay for the portion of time or services you need, making it significantly more affordable than hiring and retaining full-time employees.
- Flexibility: Fractional services are available on-demand, allowing you to scale up or down based on your business's changing needs.
- Expertise: Access to experienced C-suite IT professionals with specialised knowledge in IT strategy, cybersecurity, and software development.
- Experience: Virtual CIOs and CISOs bring insights from working with various organisations across multiple sectors and industries, providing fresh perspectives and innovative solutions.
What is a CIO?
They'll set the direction for all things technical within your business by actively collaborating with teams and departments to align IT systems to their requirements. A CIO’s responsibilities include digital transformation, network and communications management, data management, business process automation, and importantly, cost control. Economit does this on an outsourced, fractional basis, delivering precisely the level of time and support your business needs at a fractional price.
Why hire a virtual CIO?
Economit’s virtual CIOs will hit the ground running, working strategically at board level to achieve solid results. They can manage future IT projects, teams and budgets, conduct audits and assessments on your existing infrastructure and create straightforward IT strategies for organisations to understand and implement. Working with a virtual CIO avoids assigning the responsibility of technology management, which is a critical aspect of any business, to other areas of the business, inducing unnecessary risk due to crossing over into an area of skills they perhaps don’t fully understand and are not sufficiently experienced in.
In summary, a CIO will:
- Innovate and drive your IT strategy.
- Work with and manage your existing IT team.
- Supervise digital transformation and systems migration projects.
- Manage your IT budget and expenditure.
What is a CISO?
They'll take responsibility for the safety and protection of your organisation’s data, continually improving your information security posture to safeguard your business. Understanding the complexity of information security obligations and determining how they affect your company’s security posture can be overwhelming - a CISO will take this responsibility away from the management team and provide an experienced individual to undertake this critical role.
Why hire a virtual CISO?
Your virtual CISO will work closely with you to give your business an independent view of your cyber security and information security landscape, helping you assess risk and mitigate threats, working strategically with you to ensure systems and processes do not fall foul of costly and embarrassing security incidents. In short, they establish best practices, develop comprehensive information security policies tailored to your business needs and ensure your IT budget is spent effectively.
Calling on Economit's experienced team will mean you can merge the roles your business needs into one, by procuring strategic director-level experience and knowledge at a fraction of the cost.
A CISO will:
- Keep your business compliant and mitigate cyber risks.
- Plan, implement and continue managing compliant systems, avoiding financial fines or reputational damage.
- Make essential decisions around IT and information security to prevent incidents.
- Improve compliance standards such as ISO 27001 and/or Cyber Essentials and continually maintain them as your business grows.
What about a Data Protection Officer?
Economit also offers a cost-effective virtual DPO, a legally compliant data protection service that provides expert guidance and support for your business. You can find out more about our DPO services here.
Want to find out more?
In summary, fractional services provide the specialised, strategic support businesses need to thrive in today's complex technology landscape. Ideal for organisations that can't justify full-time hires but still require on-tap expert IT and information security leadership.
If you need reliable, independent, and impartial IT consultancy that provides highly accredited and certified industry professionals to help your business, a virtual CIO or CISO could be for you. If you want to discuss fractional services, call 01332 447447 or email hello@economit.co.uk.