An Interim CIO Meets a Vital but Temporary Need
Transitions are tough. You may be experiencing rapid growth or downsizing. You may also be attempting to fill a gap left by a recently departed CIO. If so, our interim CIOs can come on board to help you navigate these turbulant waters. Interim CIOs stay on board for as little or as much time as you need. They’ll keep your company’s technology running smoothly so that you don’t have to deal with any additional chaos.
The one place you never want to find chaos is in your tech – be it the software your employees use, the way your network’s arranged or the security of your data. An interim CIO is a vital component of any transition plan, especially since business owners and other leaders involved in the transition process may not have the time to take on the CIO role while trying to push the company through challenging times.
An Interim CIO is There To Meet Your Need
You can be flexible about how you use your interim CIO. You can’t do that with a full-time executive. If you’re growing, hiring new employees and need new software or hardware solutions to accommodate the growth, your interim CIO can take over the process and be as engaged as you need him or her to be for as long as you need those services. When things calm down, your CIO can step aside and simply monitor tech operations for any areas of inefficiency, instability or insecurity. And when you no longer need CIO services at all, an interim CIO hands the torch to the next CIO or to IT department with parting guidance and grace.
One of the aspects of Shared CxO’s outsourcing that I find most appealing is its sheer flexibility. With a full-time employee you have a set wage or salary that you have to worry about, and with freelancers you often have a contractually-obliged minimum amount of hours for the engagement. But with Shared CxO, our interim CIOs are available on-call. No pressure, just help when you need it.
Interim CIOs Ensure Your Technology is Ready for Change
An interim CIO can help with every stage of your company’s tech. It doesn’t matter if your tech is well-established or still in development. The CIo will review what’s already in place, what you have planned, what is best for your needs and what is best for your customer or client’s needs. This professional also watches emerging trends in technology. This means the interim CIO knows when your business could benefit from a totally cutting-edge system, when you could benefit from something a bit more traditional, and when it’s important to take the best of both worlds.
Your interim CIO will then put together a strategy for your tech that can scale along with your business, so that during every step of your company’s trajectory the technology you’re using is up-to-date, efficient, secure and exactly what you need to get ahead of the competition.
Interim CIOs Can Manage Specific Projects
Is your only real need for an interim CIO is to oversee the acquisition and implementation of technology or some other one-time project? No problem. That sort of temporary guidance is well within the scope of the job.
An interim CIO’s engagement doesn’t need to be grand or all-encompassing. There’s no ego to satisfy. In fact, like most people in IT, a quality interim CIO is extremely focused and results-driven. The goal is to hit the ground running with the tasks ahead. The interim CIO will problem solve as necessary to implement a solution or process. If that’s all you require, there are no hard feelings about getting out of the way when the job is done.
An Interim CIO is Dedicated to Your Business
A good interim CIO has to be completely dedicated to and invested in your business in order to serve it to the best of his abilities. He has to truly care about how technology affects your company. That’s why such dedication is a key quality we look for when selecting the CIOs to work with us at Shared CxO. I know that your CIO has to be meticulous and methodical. It’s this person’s job to make sure your technology is stable, and to make sure it serves your every need. It’s also important to make sure your tech is compliant with a myriad of rules and regulations. Ignoring these issues can lead to heavy fines and other problems. And in a day and age when security and privacy are arguably more important, and certainly more tricky than ever, it’s his or her job to make sure your company’s data is protected.
Without dedication it would be easy for any one of those aspects of an interim CIO’s job to be done poorly, at a dear cost to you. Just because your interim CIO’s engagement with your company may only be temporary doesn’t mean you should settle for anything less than 100% investment in your business’s best interests, and I’m proud to say that’s exactly what we provide at Shared CxO.
If you are in need of an interim CIO, you can contact us any time to discuss your needs. You can also view our rates and packages and discover more about our CIO Outsourcing and Advisory. We look forward to working with you!