Technical decisions to make, nobody in-house to settle them.
A fractional CTO is technical direction on shared time for your customer-facing digital estate: someone who decides, writes it down, steers your vendors and answers for what is decided. A few days a month, without hiring.
From €900 excl. VAT per month · Reply within 48h · Single point of contact
What a fractional CTO is
Technical direction on shared time, for a company that has none in-house. Here is the month, step by step, once it is running.
The technical steering committee
One to two hours with you depending on the tier: what moved, what is coming, what needs deciding. The roadmap leaves the committee up to date.
Advice and project oversight
A quote to review, an outage, a rebuild someone is pitching to you: you write to me, you get a reasoned position within 24 to 48 hours depending on the tier. I review what is proposed, scope what is missing and follow the delivery, whether the project is run by an agency, a freelance, someone on your team or by me. You keep the relationship, I hold the technical side.
Dedicated watch: your existing system and its evolutions
On one side, what puts at risk what you already run: end-of-support dates, vulnerabilities, regulatory obligations, contracts up for renewal. On the other, what your system could do and does not do yet, given the technical context. One page a month, and qualified leads for what to change: three a quarter on the Adviser tier, three a month and costed on the Technical direction tier.
Tracking in your online workspace
You follow the engagement in one place: every call written down, dated, explained, with the option ruled out, and your deliverables kept current (system map, roadmap, quote reviews, three-year budget). All of it is yours and reads without me.
A displayed price, no time sheet
Two tiers, depending on how much your systems ask of you. Same role, same deliverables: what changes is the pace and the depth of the vendor management.
Technical direction
The common case: several tools, vendors, deadlines.
Set up a retainer- A 6-month commitment, then rolling monthly, with 2 months' notice.
- A documented handover clause: your deliverables belong to you and read without me.
- 100% remote.
- Four concurrent engagements at most, so the follow-up stays real.
- Any implementation beyond your tier's quota is quoted separately, at public rates.
What proves the direction was held
Not the memory of a conversation: documents that belong to you, read without me, and can be held up to any vendor.
01System map
Tools, vendors, data flows, credentials and who holds them, contracts and renewal dates. Kept current in your online workspace.
02A dated, budgeted roadmap
What is decided, what is open, what is coming, with dates and budgets. Something you can hold up to vendors and to your own board.
03Record of technical decisions
Every call made, its date, its rationale and the option ruled out. Sent within 24h of the committee.
04Quote review with a costed alternative
Your vendors' proposals reviewed: what is priced, what is missing, what locks you in.
05A three-year technology budget
What your digital estate will cost, line by line, so spending is decided ahead of time rather than under pressure.
06Continuity plan and handover pack
Everything needed to take over without me: access, contracts, decisions, state of the system.
07Register of proposed evolutions
What was proposed, what was accepted, what was ruled out and why. That register is what makes the technical direction auditable.
08Opportunity review
Two to four opportunities per review, one page each, ranked on two axes only: the effort and the effect on your business.
Getting started
You describe your situation, I reply within 48h
Every retainer starts with the audit and roadmap (€650 excl. VAT, three weeks). A single decision to settle? The one-off advice is enough.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from a maintenance contract?
Maintenance keeps what exists running: updates, backups, fixes. A fractional CTO decides about what exists: whether to maintain, rebuild or replace, in which order and at what budget. The two complement each other, they do not replace each other. Your maintenance vendor keeps their contract.
Isn't that our communications team's job?
Communications decides what the site says. I answer for what keeps it standing: the tools, the vendors, the deadlines, the technical trade-offs. I stay out of their work, and the comms team sits on the committee without commissioning it. The technical direction reports to the managing director or the finance director.
You advise and you build: aren't you judge and jury?
I am, and that is why the contract frames it. Implementation is capped at your tier's quota; beyond that it is quoted separately, at public rates. Any recommendation leading to a Next Impact engagement comes with a costed external alternative. You stay free to have the work done elsewhere: I then steer that vendor.
Do I have to change vendor or agency?
No. You keep your vendors, I help you steer them: their quotes are reviewed, their deliverables checked, their trade-offs settled. Managed services, backups and hosting stay with your current vendor. A fractional CTO decides, it does not replace those who execute.
Why a 6-month commitment?
The first month goes into mapping your system, your contracts and your deadlines. The effects come after that, once the roadmap and the register of evolutions start turning. Six months is what it takes for a full cycle to show: the map, the roadmap kept current, the decisions delivered, a first opportunity review. After the sixth month it rolls monthly, with two months' notice.
We have no IT budget.
This is a management expense, not an IT one. It is triggered by a deadline: a compliance requirement, a project, a contract renewal. Compare it to the cost of a technical decision made blind, not to a day rate. The €650 audit and roadmap lets you judge on evidence before committing.
I would rather have a one-off opinion. Is that possible?
Yes, and it is often the right starting point. The redesign advisory call (€150 excl. VAT) settles a direction in one hour, with a written opinion within 48h. The audit + roadmap (€650 excl. VAT) documents what exists and delivers a plan. The recurring retainer only makes sense if decisions come up every month.