Short version. A CTO owns what you build, the product, the engineering, the technology you sell or that sells for you. A CIO owns how you run, the internal systems, the data, the security, the tools your staff use every day. If your technology is the product, you need a CTO first
A good fractional CTO spends the first 90 days doing three things. Working out what you actually have, stopping whatever is on fire, and setting a direction the business can hold to once the noise dies down. By day 90 you should have a clear picture of your technology, a short li
The difference is time and intensity. An interim CTO is full-time, for a fixed period, to cover a gap or lead through a specific crisis or change. A fractional CTO is part-time, usually one or two days a week, for as long as you need senior technology leadership without a full-ti
Fractional means you buy senior technology leadership by the day, not by the salary. You get a CTO or CIO for one or two days a week, on a rolling retainer, with the seniority of someone who has done the job rather than only advised on it. What follows is how the engagement actua
A good fractional CTO contract is short, clear and fair to both sides. It says what you are buying, how much time, what it costs, who owns what, and how either side ends it. If a proposed agreement runs to 30 pages or leaves any of those vague, be wary. Here is what should be in
If you run a business that depends on technology and you cannot personally judge whether the technology is any good, you are carrying a risk you cannot see. A fractional CTO closes that gap. You get a senior technologist who answers to you, speaks plain English, and takes the dec
A fractional CTO does not replace your developers or your agency. They lead them. The relationship works when the CTO sets direction and standards, the team or agency does the building, and the founder stops being the go-between. Done well, the people already doing the work get b
Investors will look at your technology, and they will look harder than you expect. Technical due diligence is now a standard part of most rounds, and a founder who cannot answer the questions confidently loses either the deal or the valuation. A fractional CTO brought in three to
Most founders wait too long. They bring in senior technology help after the damage is done, when a quiet word six months earlier would have saved the money and the stress. Here are seven signs that the moment has arrived, with what each one looks like in practice and what happens
How to get strategic technology leadership without hiring a full-time CTO. The options compared, what each costs in the UK, when each fits, and how to choose.
The best fractional CTO and CIO services for UK fintech and financial services firms, the difference between the two roles, what regulated firms should look for, and where ScaleAround fits.
How fractional CTO and CIO leadership works for businesses across South Wales, from Cardiff to Swansea and Newport, and where ScaleAround fits.