What is a fractional CIO?
A fractional CIO is a part-time chief information officer who owns a company's information systems, data, security posture and IT budget, working a set number of hours each month instead of as a full-time hire.
Where a CTO traditionally focuses on the technology a company builds or sells, a CIO focuses on the systems the company runs on: email, file storage, accounting, the CRM, practice management software and the data flowing between them. A fractional CIO brings that oversight to firms that are too small to justify a full-time executive but too complex to leave decisions to whoever happens to be most comfortable with computers.
Typical work includes setting an annual IT budget, deciding which software to renew or retire, writing access and data retention policies, preparing for cyber insurance questionnaires, and managing the relationship with a managed service provider. For regulated firms, such as accounting practices under the FTC Safeguards Rule or medical offices handling HIPAA data, the fractional CIO often coordinates the written security plan with legal and compliance advisers rather than replacing them.
In small companies the CIO and CTO titles blur, and many providers do both. The useful question is not the title but the scope: who decides, who delivers, and how results get reported. InTheory frames its version as a fractional AI and technology lead starting at $2,500 a month, though fractional CIOs are offered by many independent consultants and firms.
Example
For example, a regional accounting firm with 25 staff faces a cyber insurance renewal that asks about multi-factor authentication, backups and a written information security plan. A fractional CIO inventories the firm's systems, works with the existing IT provider to close the gaps, and gives the managing partner a one-page summary of what changed and what is still open.
Where it shows up in practice
See how InTheory provides this: fractional CTO · fractional CIO · pricing.