As the use of technology becomes more prevalent in all types of businesses, the need for a Chief Information Officer (CIO) to help coordinate business technology becomes more apparent. But if your businesses is small or uses technology in a limited way, is a full-time CIO the best option? If you’re not sure, then you may wish to consider a virtual cio instead.
Why CIOs Are Necessary
If you’re running a small business, you may not think you need a CIO at all. Perhaps you have just one store, or perhaps your company doesn’t use much software yet. You, as the owner, can simply learn what you need and do the job of the CIO yourself, right? Wrong.
Think about how much technology your business really uses – it’s probably more than just a website. For example, if you’re a retail store, you probably have a POS system, some form of tracking for customer service, a phone system, and a website. That’s a lot of technology to manage, and a CIO can help you manage it. Consider the following:
- Your time is too valuable to study and compare the dozens or even hundreds of different technologies on the market. A CIO will be familiar with the range of solutions available.
- Customer confidentiality is a big deal, and any data breach may severely impact your company. A CIO can help you find risks to customer data and manage it more securely.
- Is your technology working for you, or are you working for it? A CIO can determine where you or your employees are fighting software and help you smooth out usability problems by finding the best technology solution for what you do.
Why a Virtual CIO Makes the Most Sense
So a CIO is vital for pretty much any business, but how vital exactly? Depending on your needs, you may not need a full-time CIO. You may simply need to get your technology up and running smoothly, then do the rest on your own. Or you may only need periodic checks when competitors enter the market. Either way, you may not need to spend the money for a full-time CIO.
That’s where a virtual CIO comes in. Virtual CIOs are CIOs that you can hire on-demand through IT service companies like XO in Los Angeles. A virtual CIO can do everything a full-time CIO would do: learn your business, create an IT strategy plan, and recommend specific and custom software solutions designed around your needs. For more information about virtual CIOs, please contact us.
