5 Signs You Could Benefit from a vCIO

Business owners have an unending list of tasks on their plate – and technology, especially strategic IT planning, usually gets pushed to the back burner. But, a virtual CIO (also known as a vCIO) can take on your high-level technology responsibilities, giving you systems that perform seamlessly and support your business rather than hindering it.

Here are five signs that you could benefit from virtual CIO services:

1. You struggle to meet compliance standards.

If your business is subject to PCI, SOX, HIPAA or other regulations, you know how much work it is to consistently meet compliance and stay on top of changes. A virtual CIO evaluates your systems and implements processes to ensure that you’re compliant each and every time – saving you the hassle of noncompliance fines, a damaged reputation and broken customer trust.

2. Your technology costs are all over the place.

If downtime, break/fix calls and unreliable vendors make your monthly IT bill anything but predictable, enlist the services of a virtual CIO. They recommend the best solutions to boost your uptime and minimize disruptions to your workflow, negotiate with vendors on your behalf and manage projects within your budget. Plus, vCIOs themselves operate at a standard monthly cost that’s a fraction of what you would pay an in-house CIO in salary, benefits and bonuses.

3. You lack a strategy for the future.

We get it, the future is a long way off – except it isn’t. If you don’t have a strategy for your technology, you’ll waste time and money on solutions that don’t ultimately align with your business goals. Virtual CIOs work with you to develop a roadmap that outlines your plan for growth and recommends solutions that will help you achieve that outcome – giving you the confidence to make better investment decisions.

4. You’re missing a solid business continuity plan.

Natural disasters, power outages and human error affect every business – the question is, do you know how to recover? A vCIO implements a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery plan so you can protect your data and access it quickly. More than 40 percent of SMBs close their doors permanently after a disaster; instituting a plan now stops you from becoming a statistic.

5. You aren’t getting actionable insights from your data.

Almost every interaction with your customers can offer insight into what they want and how you can better serve them – but, that only works if you know how to read the data. Virtual CIOs help you sort and analyze your data to make smart decisions that improve your business.

If some or all of these describe you, it’s time to get your technology in order. Contact us today to learn how a vCIO can resolve your challenges.