*Fractional Risk: Here's How to Get a Whole IT Dept for Less Than a Full-Time Employee

What's the Risk of Going IT alone? (IT Overwhelm)

Has your role as CEO taken on an overwhelming amount of IT-related responsibilities? As IT issues and projects escalate, a startup or SMB CEO can expect to deal with more and more IT-related issues and meetings. This can lead to high levels of frustration with technology as the primary reason the business isn't reaching its growth goals. It then becomes easy for an startup or SMB CEO to ignore IT issues before the business loses customers and sees increased employee turnover. This can severely slow down and erode a company's growth.

Or has the frustration of repeatedly finding and hiring IT staff become more about fixing past employees' mistakes than executing strategy? With limited resources and high expectations, IT teams often spend a significant portion of their time addressing old software issues rather than focusing on critical strategic initiatives that drive the company forward. This reactive approach not only hinders progress and innovation but also demoralizes the team, making it challenging to retain top talent and leverage IT for competitive advantage.

Or does the IT agenda fill you with dread? The constant flow of new technology, mixed with the need to manage existing systems and processes, can be daunting. CEOs often find themselves overwhelmed by all the technical jargon, endless meetings, and the pressure to keep up with ever-evolving tech trends. This dread can then lead to procrastination, resulting in missed opportunities and increased risk of cyber threats and operational inefficiencies.

What's the Risk of Getting Help? (High Salaries)

Have you thought about how much a CTO salary could cost your business? Small to medium sized businesses (SMB) often struggle with the high salaries and costs of hiring CIOs, CTOs, and other IT leadership positions. For a $10M company or startup, the IT leader may take up to 5% of all annual revenue. This can pose a huge funding problem for startup or SMB CEOs just looking for a little extra help.

Or might cutting IT costs in the short-term increase long-term costs? Hiring less skilled IT staff can cut costs temporarily, but in the end often cost more than hiring a CTO because of rework and unreliable progress of mission-critical projects. The demand on less skilled IT staff can be overwhelming for both executives and staff. Overwhelmed staff leads to higher turnover and unfinished projects. New IT staff is unable to pick up where the previous employee left off, leading to unfinished IT projects. As prioritization of projects stop, the list of new projects piles up.

The result is that the startup or SMB CEO again has less time for managing the business strategy and execution, but regrettably has to instead now also deal with many more IT headaches as the business continues to grow.

Reimagine IT: The Beauty of Fractional-IT and Reduced Risk

Instead, imagine an external IT team of highly skilled part-time experts who were dedicated and able to focus on value and strategic outcomes rather than tactical busywork. This "fractional" approach right-sizes and transforms your IT setup into a strategic IT partnership that seamlessly integrates with your business goals. With a strategic IT partner, you also eliminate headaches associated with IT management, mitigate technical and legal risks, and avoid overdue or over-budget projects all while maintaining a strong and steady focus on strategic value.

Such an indispensable partner would be experienced in managing both large as well as small transformations and projects. They would also leverage staff or a network of vendors with proven track records. You would have access to a full team of part-time expert programmers, QA testers, business analysts, project managers, product managers, engineers, architects, consultants, CTOs, CIOs, Chief Digital Officers (CDO), or even Master Certified Enterprise Architects (CEAs) and many more – all at fractional on-demand prices.

By hiring a strategic IT partner to oversee all vendors and staff, you ensure a cohesive and well-coordinated IT strategy while limiting the downside risks. This streamlined approach not only saves time and energy, but also substantially reduces costs to less than the cost of a single full-time employee as you only pay for what you need, thereby allowing your business to focus on growth and innovation at a fraction of the time, cost & risk.

Why Choose JS Miller Consulting as Your Strategic IT Partner?

JS Miller Consulting stands out as a strategic IT partner with over 30-years of experience, focusing on comprehensive services rather than just operations. We ensure your projects and transformations are completed with much less risk, on time, and within budget, eliminating common headaches, delays, and cost overruns. JSMC helps you to get IT right the first-time!

By hiring JS Miller Consulting, you gain access to a team of experts at a fraction of the cost of hiring full-time employees. Our proprietary CAPstone Strategy™ approach used in conjunction with the JSMC Proven Vendor List (PVL) containing an extensive network of vendors with a track record of success are the secret ingredients that allow JSMC to reach the industry's highest level of performance. These two JSMC proprietary offerings help to guarantee reliable and effective solutions for your business needs that has saved many other SMBs time, energy, and money. Our highly experienced Master Architect (Certified Enterprise Architect) proactively evaluates root causes, IT risks, and right-sizes the transformation process to devise the most appropriate strategy tailored to your specific technology agenda.

As a strategic IT partner, we are your expert guide to help you find your way through the IT jungle with a proven track record of success. We help you navigate potential pitfalls with proven safeguards that ensure lasting success. To kickstart your journey, we offer a free consultation, providing you with a solid foundation to improve your chances of success. With JS Miller Consulting, you gain a dedicated partner committed to creating durable success for your business.

What Are My Hiring Options? (Key Factors and Tradeoffs)

When it comes to addressing major pain points like IT headaches, overdue and over-budget projects, and cost — startups and SMBs often find themselves facing a multitude of difficult decisions sometimes referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of IT Decision Making.

For example, hiring internal IT employees or procuring IT Staffing contracts might seem like a straightforward solution, but it often leads to even more IT meetings and frustration due to a lack of specialized skills and experience

This tends to result in projects dragging on indefinitely and going significantly over budget while taking up more and more of a CEO's time. Furthermore, hiring IT managed service providers (MSPs) and independent consultants also offer similar but just as dreadful outcomes.

Let's take a closer look at the many tradeoffs between hiring FTE, IT Staffing companies, Managed Service Providers (MSPs), independent consultants, and a full-service IT consulting firms sometimes referred to as Design-Build firms.

Full-Time Employees (FTEs) offers direct control over IT development or operations and dedicated staff familiar with the company's specific needs. However, it can lead to ongoing IT management headaches due to a lack of specialized skills and experience, causing projects to drag on and go significantly over budget. Additionally, there are high costs associated with salaries, benefits, and training.

IT Staffing Companies (Contractors) provide quick access to a pool of try-before-you-buy IT talent (onshore, nearshore, and offshore) and the flexibility to scale up or down based on project needs. The downside is the risk of questionable skillsets, ethics, and talent as well as communication challenges across multiple time zones which can lead to the rework of major projects. There is also the high potential for misalignment with company goals, resulting in budget overruns and incomplete tasks.

IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs) focus primarily on IT operations rather than strategic projects or transformations. While they can handle day-to-day IT tasks, MSPs often lack the strategic insight and capability required for complex projects, leading to inaccurate quotes, incomplete work, and a focus on billable hours rather than ROI.

*INSIGHT: Effectively managing FTEs, IT staffing companies, and MSPs requires considerable time and expertise, posing a significant burden on CEOs and business leaders who are better served by focusing on strategic decision-making and business growth. The need for constant oversight of IT operations can divert their time and attention away from core business activities, potentially hindering overall progress. To address these challenges, startups and SMBs benefit from a strategic IT partner that ensures their IT employees and venders are well aligned with their goals and capable of delivering successful outcomes.

IT Specialists (Independent Consultants) offer a high level of expertise and specialized skills, along with the ability to provide strategic oversight and guidance. The tradeoffs include higher hourly rates at full-time engagement when compared to other options and the need for additional coordination and management from startup and SMB CEOs. IT consultants typically specialize in specific types of projects and lack the big picture thinking nor do they effectively manage the project or their time for the following reasons. A major issue independent consultants have is overbooking their time and not managing to delivery dates. Many consultants have signed more clients than they can possibly serve and therefore underserve all clients because of it. Many projects led by independent consultants have failed due to a lack of dedicated leadership and management roles.

IT Consulting Firms (Full-Service Design-Build Firms) come in a wide variety of configurations from small niche boutiques to full-service design-build firms that offer IT strategy, architecture, and engineering services. While small niche boutiques tend to specialize in fewer IT service categories, their counterparts are full-service design-build firms providing a one-stop shop that employs or networks with every type of IT specialist under one roof including but not limited to: expert consultants, enterprise architects, business architects, solution architects, project managers, product managers, software engineers, and software testers, etc. These types of firms most often provide the best value by offering cost-effective fractional services on-demand for IT services that don't require a full-time commitment.

JS Miller Consulting, LLC (hereafter, JSMC) is a Full-Service Design-Build Firm that offers fractional services for startups and SMBs that desire to right-size and reimagine their IT department by leveraging a dedicated full-service consulting firm with over 30-years of strategic IT expertise. The JSMC CAPstone Strategy™ approach ensures projects are completed right the first-time, on-time, and on-budget, without the headaches and cost overruns typical of other options. The JSMC Proven Vendor List (PVL) provides a list of the top-tier consultants in the industry with track records of success. This means JSMC takes care of all aspects of IT projects and transformations. By hiring JSMC, startups and SMB CEOs gain access to a dedicated Master Architect who tailors strategies to their specific needs, offering a cost-effective and efficient alternative to traditional IT staffing and services.

If you find yourself having a hard time choosing an option, get a Free Consult with an expert IT consultant or Master Architect to verify whether or not an assessment of your current IT situation could help your organizations growth.

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