What is a vCIO and why does your business need one?

As a company that started as a small business, we know how much work goes into running a successful start-up. Cultivating leads, handling business technology, hiring the right employees, executing client work, managing policies and benefits—it’s exhausting just thinking about it. With all the tasks a growing business is responsible for, you shouldn’t have to worry about how your daily technology needs will be handled.

amshot can do that for you.

A Virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) is an outsourced IT service that provides your company with the skills and capabilities of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) without the cost of staffing the position full-time. Keep reading to find out the perks of having a vCIO.

• TIME IS MONEY
  Efficiency and productivity go hand-in-hand at the office. By utilizing a vCIO, you free up time and resources, previously dedicated to managing the company’s IT needs, which can be reallocated to promote various aspects of business development. Additionally, without having to micro-manage IT internally, your sanity gets a bit of a break as well.

• SECURITY GUARD
  We have said it before and we’ll say it again: cybersecurity is not to be taken lightly. Every day, hackers are becoming bolder and smarter, so you should not leave your company’s security up to chance. Securing business data and information against cyber attacks is one of the vCIO’s most important roles in an organization. A vCIO works to keep all of your tech up-to-date along with creating security policies and implementing security patches.

• CUSTOM > BASIC
  When it comes to reporting and recommendations, it is far more helpful if business analyses are tailored to your business instead of made with a widely-distributed template. With the various functionalities of business technology, it can be difficult to keep track of what is working and what isn’t while also trying to make sense of the mountains of data produced. A vCIO can provide customized reports of your current IT setup that showcase metrics and trends. Based on the reports and findings, the vCIO can also make recommendations for new software or technology to utilize at your business. The vCIO is an invaluable resource when considering new technology to invest in for your company.
• SHOW ME THE MONEY
  While hiring a full-time CIO does free up time dedicated to your company’s IT needs, it would also come with a hefty price tag. The average salary for a CIO in the U.S. is more than $140,000 plus paid time off, insurance, and other benefits—not something a growing business can easily afford. Since a vCIO is an outsourced IT service, you will not have to pay an annual salary nor provide a benefits package. The increase in productivity is comparable when considering a CIO versus a vCIO, but the financial savings of utilizing a vCIO are huge.

The Bottom Line

Utilizing a vCIO can have a big impact on your company’s bottom line. Not only does this service allow you to focus on what you do best while we handle your IT needs, but it also implements a technology strategy that is proactive, not reactive. Too often we hear about huge IT issues and data breaches that stall productivity in an office. Luckily, we specialize in stress-free IT. amshot conducts regular maintenance to prevent issues and keep your business running smoothly instead of scrambling to fix problems as they arise.

If you want to find out if a vCIO is right for your company, set up a free consultation with amshot.