Who is it for?
Companies without a CTO
Technology has become business-critical, but a full-time CTO is still premature or unnecessarily expensive.
Teams facing growth friction
Product, engineering, infrastructure and operations decisions are disconnected, with weak prioritisation and ownership.
Organisations strengthening an existing CTO
An independent second view is needed for board communication, investment planning, vendor selection or transformation.
Companies entering investment or change
Leadership needs clarity before due diligence, scaling, restructuring, acquisition or a major technology commitment.
What problem does it solve?
The problem is rarely just that “the software does not work.” More often, decisions are fragmented, technical debt is invisible, team and vendor responsibilities overlap, leadership cannot see the return on technology spend, and major risks appear only during a crisis.
The Fractional CTO model closes this gap with an operating management system rather than a one-off report. Leadership understands what is being funded and why; teams understand the priority and expected outcome; and success is measured consistently.
Standard deliverables
- Technology Assessment: organisation, architecture, product, infrastructure, security, vendors, budget and risk.
- 90-Day Technology Roadmap: quick wins, strategic initiatives, owners, KPIs, dependencies and resources.
- Governance Model: decision rights, meeting cadence, escalation path and executive reporting.
- KPI & Risk Scorecard: delivery health, capacity, technical debt, security, continuity and investment indicators.
- Monthly Executive Technology Report: progress, decisions, risks and next-month priorities.
- Quarterly Technology Review: roadmap, investment, capacity, team and risk reassessment.
Working model and milestones
Assessment
The current state and critical technology risks are made visible.
Technology Assessment90-Day Roadmap
Priorities, owners, measures and resource needs are defined.
90-Day RoadmapGovernance
Decision and reporting cadence is established.
Governance + ScorecardExecution
Critical initiatives, teams and vendors are actively tracked.
Execution DashboardImprovement
Priorities are updated continuously using measured results.
Monthly Executive ReportReview
The roadmap and investment plan are reassessed with leadership.
Quarterly ReviewIncluded and excluded
Included
- Technology strategy and roadmap
- Architecture and critical decision support
- Team, role and capability assessment
- Portfolio prioritisation
- Vendor and investment evaluation
- Risk and executive reporting
Not included
- Unlimited software development capacity
- 24/7 operations or incident response
- Full-time line management
- Legal, financial or certification audits
- Implementation teams unless separately scoped
- Outcome guarantees or vendor commissions
Monthly cadence
Frequently asked questions
What is a Fractional CTO?
An ongoing executive-level CTO capability without a full-time employment relationship, covering strategy, architecture, teams, vendors, investment, risk and governance through a defined monthly scope.
How is it different from a technology consultant?
A consultant often provides a view or deliverable for a specific problem. A Fractional CTO also follows decisions through, runs the management cadence, coordinates teams and vendors, and measures outcomes.
How long does an engagement last?
Initial outputs are produced within 30–90 days. A 3–6 month starting period is usually recommended to establish governance and execution momentum.
How is the fee determined?
A fixed monthly scope is defined after assessment based on scale, team size, number of initiatives, risk level, cadence and required deliverables.