Today, the chief information officer (CIO) — one of the highest paid leadership positions in modern organizations. With the average salary for a conventional CIO in Los Angeles reaching $197,000 per annum, it’s not a position many smaller companies can afford to support. Fortunately, there’s another option in the form of a virtual CIO, or vCIO, which refers to business technology consultants that provide virtual CIO services. Typically you pay a monthly fee to a managed IT services provider that is wholly dedicated to IT support and IT consulting. The benefits of a vCIO are numerous to small and medium businesses in the Los Angeles area.
Make your business scalable without spending a fortune
Businesses projecting extended periods of growth often end up over investing on things like staffing and technology. The reasoning seems to make sense too, since no business wants to miss out on new opportunities due to limitations in existing infrastructure. However, there remains a high degree of risk in making such a decision, not least due to the highly volatile nature of today’s economy.
Fortunately, the right technology empowers organizations to grow without fear. With cloud services, for example, it’s possible to build an IT infrastructure that meets your in-the-moment demands. A vCIO solution is similar in that it’s always available to support your technology needs and concerns, unlike a full-time, in-house CIO, who can easily become overwhelmed or underutilized.
We’re fast moving towards an everything-as-a-service environment, which generally makes more sense for fast-growing startups and other small businesses. Customer demands and needs change rapidly alongside technology, making scalability and flexibility more important than ever. IT solutions delivered “as-a-Service” (including vCIO) charge a predictable monthly fee for the services you need instead of taking your chances with hefty upfront investments in personnel or physical hardware.
Drive smarter decision-making with strategic IT planning
All too often, technology ends up holding a business back rather than serving as a key enabler of growth and enhanced productivity. That’s because many companies are stuck with dated and/or mismatched business technology that creates dangerous vulnerabilities or inefficiencies within the organization. Factors such as IT audits, compliance, and security might end up being overlooked, for example.
Just like a skilled and experienced in-house CIO, a vCIO provides the expertise your company needs to align technology with its core operational goals. A vCIO isn’t a salesperson, but your strategic technology partner with a vested interest in the success of your brand. Furthermore, a vCIO saves a lot of time by leveraging their expertise to match IT solutions to your needs, which means they should also have a deep understanding of your industry.
No matter where you operate or what industry you’re in, your IT strategy needs to be flexible and adaptable to changes in consumer trends and regulatory requirements. That’s why the best vCIOs focus on helping you adopt a culture of continuous improvement with ongoing IT integration and migration initiatives to keep one step ahead of your competitors.
Your vCIO will develop an IT roadmap for your business
A virtual CIO, much like a conventional CIO, will work closely with managers, as well as, with others within the organization to establish a well-communicated IT roadmap that is connected to an annual IT budget and established business goals to measure the real value to the organization.
Most businesses have accountants, lawyers, and a number of other experts on their side, but your business technology infrastructure also needs attention, now more than ever. Frontline IT helps organizations in Los Angeles improve workplace productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability through cutting-edge technology and the expertise needed to make it all happen. Sign up for a call with our vCIO today to learn more.