Not every company needs a full-time chief technology officer. But almost every company that runs on technology needs someone who understands it and answers for it. That is exactly the job of a fractional CTO: a technology lead you rent for as much time as you actually need.
When a fractional CTO makes sense
Usually when technology starts to make or break your business, but nobody in the company is in charge of it. A few symptoms give it away:
- You choose systems based on whatever a supplier offers you.
- You have developers or an outside firm, but nobody checking what they do and why.
- You invest in technology and don’t know whether it pays off.
- Your systems grew one piece at a time and today nobody sees them as a whole.
If you have one specific question, technology consulting is probably enough. A fractional CTO is for when you need someone on an ongoing basis.
What a fractional CTO does
The scope always follows your situation. Usually it’s a mix of these:
- Technology decisions. What to build, what to buy, what to maintain and what to replace.
- Product leadership. Help with what your digital product should do, and in what order.
- Supplier management. Briefing work, checking results and making sure you get what you pay for.
- Oversight of operations. So that systems keep running, stay secure and don’t surprise anyone.
How it starts
First we talk about where you are today. Which systems you use, who builds and maintains them, where things get stuck and what you’re planning. You don’t need to prepare anything. Just tell us honestly what’s bothering you.
Then we go through your systems, supplier contracts and projects in progress. Not an audit for the sake of an audit, but so we understand what we’re taking on. That gives us a first overview: what works, what’s risky and what should be dealt with first.
Only then do we agree the scope of the role. Some companies need a few hours a month and a seat at the big decisions. Others hand the fractional CTO all of development and every supplier. The scope follows what you actually need, not the size of your company.
Who it’s for
For small businesses that run on technology but couldn’t afford a full-time technology lead. For mid-sized companies whose systems have outgrown them. And for corporate teams that need an independent technical view.
Responsibility, not just advice
Our fractional CTO isn’t a consultant who hands over a slide deck and disappears. They’re one of the team: someone who designs solutions, understands the code and takes responsibility for the result.
That way decisions don’t get lost in translation between the company’s management and the people building the systems. We talk to you in plain language and to developers in theirs.
We have no interest in turning your company into a never-ending project. If changing a process is enough, we won’t build you a custom internal system. And if the best move is to do nothing, we’ll say so.
Everything created along the way belongs to you. The documentation, the decisions and the source code. When you want your own CTO, we’ll hand everything over in good order.