Who’s responsible for your company’s IT strategy? Who provides your leadership team with insight into your business’s technology needs? Who’s overseeing procurement and management for your data infrastructure?

If you don’t have quick, easy answers to these questions, you’re not alone. There’s often a belief that “since we’re not an IT company, we don’t need an IT strategy.” The problem with that approach is that it fails to acknowledge a fact of life in this third decade of the 21^st century: at some level, every company is an IT company.

It is almost impossible to operate a business of any size without relying on effective and functional computing, communications, and other data technologies. These technologies change rapidly, unlike anything else in the business world, and just keeping up is a full-time job.

If your strategic-level meetings are taking place without a trusted, experienced voice speaking to your company’s overall technology needs and strategy, your entire operation could be suffering from inefficiencies, overspending, outdated tech, and poor security. But the role of a full-time Chief Information Officer (CIO) is an expensive seat to fill.  

Fortunately, there’s another way. A Virtual CIO is one benefit of partnering with a managed service provider like Nocwing. A Virtual CIO allows you to gain the advantages of a full-time, executive-level technology expert without having to hire a full-time executive.

What Is a Chief Information Officer?

A company’s CIO offers guidance and support for the organization’s entire information technology program:

• Provides real-time guidance on the company’s existing, emerging, and future technology requirements

• Offers direction for how technology solutions can help address pain points or meet business goals

• Makes threat assessments and sets cybersecurity policies to protect sensitive data and ensure uninterrupted operations

• Leads the discussion and development of a comprehensive information technology strategy for the company

• Oversees the specification and procurement of new technology resources to ensure continued compatibility and consistency across the company

What Is a Virtual Chief Information Officer?

A Virtual CIO (VCIO) does the same thing as a regular CIO but without the payroll, benefits, onboarding, and occupancy expenses of creating and filling a full-time leadership position. Instead, a VCIO is an employee of your company's managed services provider and fills the role of CIO for your company when you need it.

Your VCIO can fulfill all the responsibilities of a full-time CIO but at a tiny fraction of the cost.

Why a Virtual CIO Might Be Just What You Need

VCIO Benefit #1: Ongoing Technology Assessment

Are your technology solutions working? What needs to be changed, upgraded, maintained, or retired? As a member of both your team and your managed service provider’s team, your Virtual CIO is uniquely positioned to know what’s happening in your company’s tech landscape.

By reviewing tech support logs, monitoring hardware and software performance, listening to employee and customer feedback, and keeping up-to-date on emergent technologies, a VCIO will have a high-level understanding of what works and what doesn't and can offer solutions to keep your operations running smoothly.

VCIO Benefit #2: Technology Strategy Direction

How will your technology adapt to meet your changing needs? What business challenges can new technologies address? How will upcoming shifts in computing affect your business?

Technology strategy cannot be reactive. Your company needs a solid plan that addresses the fact that both your company and the tech industry are constantly growing and evolving. Only an information technology expert who has a deep understanding of your operations and goals paired with an insider's knowledge of the computing world can adequately prepare your company for the future.

VCIO Benefit #3: Improved Security and Data Recovery

Cybercrime and data loss will cost companies more than a trillion dollars this year alone. A VCIO can help mitigate both risks by creating and implementing cybersecurity policies, training programs, and business continuity and disaster recovery plans (BCDR).

To help reduce the risk of a costly data breach or ransomware attack, your VCIO will perform regular assessments of the threat landscape and recommend technology solutions that help prevent unwanted access to your valuable intellectual property. Training for your team on subjects including password and email security, avoiding social engineering attacks, and other best practices will help limit the chance that your company will fall victim to a phishing attack.

Your Virtual CIO will also recommend the best backup systems to allow for business continuity and disaster recovery. Even a couple of hours of downtime following a storage device failure or loss of a data center can mean millions in lost revenue, and your VCIO will help you develop a backup scheme with multiple redundancies to keep your operations safe.

VCIO Benefit #4: Technology Procurement Oversight

Buying new tech is often fraught with guesswork. Will the new systems be future-proof? Will we run into compatibility issues? Is there a better deal out there that we're missing out on?

Your Virtual CIO will help put all of those questions to rest. By managing your company's IT specification and procurement tasks, you'll never need to worry about whether your new tech will be precisely what you need.  

VCIO Benefit #5: Peace of Mind

Above all, having a Virtual CIO in your corner gives you peace of mind. If IT isn’t one of your leadership team’s core competencies, every tech decision you make has a question mark at the end of it.

A VCIO removes the question mark. You won’t need to wonder if your tech systems are working for you. You won’t have to guess about what new technologies to embrace and which to wait and see about. You won’t have to dread a data loss.  

Even more importantly, you'll have a trusted voice in your C-suite that can help your leadership understand the technology issues that will impact your company. You'll have a partner who can help you build a turnkey technology strategy that helps fuel your growth and better meet your goals.  

Need a Tech-Focused Voice in Your C-Suite? Schedule a Call to Learn More About People+ and VCIO Services

With Nocwing’s People+ plan, your company can receive the benefits of a virtual CIO in your C-suite to help develop IT strategy, monitor industry trends, ensure compliance, and give you peace of mind. Contact us today to learn more about how People+ and a Nocwing VCIO can help make your tech landscape worry-free.

Nocwing is a full-service managed IT services company based in Griffin, Georgia, providing robust cybersecurity, IT management, business continuity/disaster recovery, user support, and VoIP solutions for companies throughout the Southeastern United States.

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