Interim management

Virtual IT Director, CTO and Interim Management

Since the advent of the internet and the proliferation of email, there has been a huge uptake of smartphones with social networking; every business realises it must take technology seriously to either leapfrog or at least keep pace with the competition.

Many businesses have good IT operational and support resources (e.g. 'nuts-n-bolts' server management, in-house staff or outsourced partners). The difficulty is that expanding businesses could outgrow their underlying technologies and thus struggle to keep pace.

IT for these businesses needs to be managed strategically with a view to gaining competitive advantage, as well as making sure change is implemented successfully. To ensure this, experienced senior resources are required like an IT Director, Chief Information Officer (CIO) or Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - however, typically this size of business cannot afford the luxury of such full time staff.

This is where our team of experienced consultants comes in and supplements the existing resources. They will perform the role of an IT Director either as an interim (e.g. during a process of change) or for an agreed amount of time as needed. This is in line with a growing movement where many businesses around the globe prefer to undertake their IT planning and strategy with these 'Fractional CIOs'.

When should you consider a Virtual IT Director?

Some situations in which you may consider hiring a virtual IT Director are when you:

• Want to be more efficient and effective with growth
• Need to save costs eg moving to the cloud
• Are part of Merger & Acquisition activity or consolidation
• Have new technology requirements - you want to overhaul your systems
• Have compliance/regulatory requirements
• Need to identify the Return On Investment (ROI) of a proposed spend

What can go wrong in a business without the right experience?

These are some old 'chestnuts' that, as IT consultants, we see in businesses again and again:

• Paying too much for software / hardware which is cheaper elsewhere - even governments are known to do this
• Choosing the wrong supplier potentially crippling your ability to deliver at pace
• Colleagues wasting time and energy trying to fix broken technology
• Being tied into a contract that has no exit/break clauses, thereby further exacerbating your problems
• Failing to negotiate any changes to standard Service Level Agreements (SLAs) resulting in a lack of protection for you when things go wrong
• No strategic direction in terms of IT for the business; Suppliers are selected on price alone and not long term suitability
• Not having all the business' systems in place, or fully integrated

I already have an IT Manager, why do I need a Virtual IT Director?

Most businesses love their IT managers! Without them they could not operate. But whilst IT managers have the technical competence eg to manage and operate networks, given their focused role they overlook the strategic vision and market knowledge. So, when they are faced with a major technology change, this lies outside of their experience or comfort zone and this can lead to problems for the business. It is also unfair to assume that just because someone manages IT, that they have knowledge of complex contract negotiation, vendor management and market intelligence. Naturally, the Virtual IT Director service will help them and their team foster some of these skills and develop their abilities in these areas.

How does the service work?

Typical client engagements involve:

• Fully understanding your business and technology needs
• Creating an action plan with the management team and the Board as necessary
• Ongoing assistance and advice to implement the plan
• Regular reporting.

I just need an IT Manager

Smaller and expanding businesses find it difficult to justify the role of experienced IT Manager or Head of IT on the grounds of high employment costs versus the low level of IT activity in the business. Even if it is possible to recruit staff, retaining highly experienced staff in a smaller business environment is challenging. Small businesses tend to compromise therefore, on a second best option in the form an IT administrator or an outsourced company, that may not always have the commercial skills and capabilities to deliver efficient operations or strategic value for the business. In the long term this approach can negatively impact the business and lead to higher cost.

We will provide you with a high-calibre professional IT manager, who has relevant and up to date experience, who will:

• Undertake day-to-day management and have overall responsibility for the current IT functions
• Support the business through technology change
• Implement IT infrastructure and IT strategy
• Undertake technical management and administration of IT systems
• Review, benchmark and improve all IT contracts
• Develop strong relationships with internal business functions and 3rd party service providers
• Introduce and manage measurable key performance indicators and service level agreements between IT, the business and 3rd party suppliers
• Challenge quality and processes
• Provide board members with regular updates on IT performance, recommendations, risks, budget and exceptions.
• Undertake an IT review (focusing on people, technology and processes) and provide recommendations for improvement

Why and when you might need the services of a DrPete IT Manager

• Your confidence in the ability of IT to deliver value to the business is low
• You are about to lose your IT Manager or IT Director and this could spell disaster for you
• You think it is time to restructure your IT resources
• Your IT staff are under-performing, untrustworthy or under-qualified
• You want to introduce professional and commercial IT management services to the company

How this service benefits your business

We can help you to:

• Reduce IT operational costs and improve return on IT investment
• Reduce costs associated with recruitment, training and retention
• Reduce the level of risk to the business from underlying IT problems
• Reduce the stress on internal resources eg office space and personnel
• Improve the adaptability of your IT to business change
• Improve the alignment of IT with the aims of the business
• Improve transparency over costs and performance
• Quickly resolve IT problems thus improving performance, productivity and efficiency of business operations
• Have comfort in the knowledge that your IT is handled by a team of highly-skilled and experienced professionals
• Acquire a mixture of IT skills and processes on par with those found in larger organisations.