We’re glad you asked. vCIO stands for Virtual Chief Information Officer. It doesn’t make sense for most of our clients to hire a full-time Chief Information Officer, but they still benefit from IT consulting services. Our vCIOs will assess your current technology solutions and workflow to ensure your security and find the areas for improvement with the highest return on investment. Your vCIO isn’t an independent contractor that may or may not be available or needs to be brought up to speed every time they walk in your door. They’re a full-time member of your team; they’re just not on-site full time. They’re not a part of a large IT consulting company, either. A swarm of consultants don’t descend on you. You have one dedicated expert with an entire team to support him/her. Many clients find that they benefit most when we help them:

• Fully understand the potential of their existing IT infrastructure
• Align their IT strategy with their business goals
• Assess their IT security
• Create network efficiencies
• Reduce maintenance costs
• Identify cost-saving opportunities
• Find and patch security loopholes and weaknesses
• Create internal policies and business processes
• Develop a business continuity and disaster recovery action plan
• Reduce overhead by migrating to cloud services or VOIP
• Provide project management for large information technology initiatives

There are several advantages to working with an outside IT consultant. First, because of our objectivity, we can see the big picture. We’ll look at your entire IT environment. Every bit of it. A lot of times, there’s no need to add additional hardware or software; the current technology simply isn’t being used optimally. Our vCIOs are full-time IT consultants. They’re constantly learning and are comfortable with new technology like machine learning, new platforms like Microsoft Azure or IBM Watson, managing your data center or other service providers, or simply making sure your Microsoft Office 365 is up-to-date and that you’re not paying for licenses you no longer need. Our IT professionals have all the skills you’d expect from an IT consulting firm, but they’re only on-site a fraction of the tie, for a fraction of the cost.

A lot of technology consulting firms’ solution to IT strategy is to simply throw more hardware and software at the problem. While this may be a short-term fix, in the end, it’s usually more expensive and just creates more potential points of failure. Strategic IT solutions don’t have to be complex; they just have to be customized to meet the specific IT needs of your business. The right solution is simple and elegant (yes, we’re still talking about your technology strategy).

We’re not a consulting company; we’re a results company. You don’t need white papers and theory; you need action, implementation, and results. Technology is supposed to make your job easier. Our vCIOs will streamline your processes and optimize your current technology. We’ll bring solutions that instantly and securely back up all data to ensure business continuity. We’ll proactively address any potential compliance issues and look to utilize cloud services to eliminate the cost of maintaining outdated hardware and software to help position your business to scale cost-effectively.

Being a decision maker is tough. That’s why successful businesses use a variety of management consultants and professional service firms for expertise and skill sets they don’t have in-house. Lawyers protect your intellectual property, accountants protect finances, and marketing agencies protect your brand. Your IT services deserve the same attention. Regardless of the size of your business or your industry, the right IT management consulting solution from ThrottleNet will have your business running at full-throttle.