Service reference

Turn business plans into a practical technology roadmap

Experienced guidance for budgets, risk, suppliers and change, without adding a full-time technology director.

Clear scope · friendly support · practical advice

The short version

Included as standard

Everything here is covered by the agreed fee. Anything outside it is quoted in advance.

  • Technology strategy and roadmap development
  • Board and leadership team reporting
  • IT budgeting and financial planning
  • Vendor evaluation and contract negotiation
  • Digital transformation planning
  • M&A technology due diligence
  • Technology support for applicable compliance programmes
  • Team structure and hiring guidance

Day-to-day support and long-term direction

Most growing businesses reach a point where the IT works but the decisions feel reactive. New tools arrive without evaluation. Contracts auto-renew without negotiation. The IT budget is last year’s plus a bit. Nobody has asked whether the stack supports where the business is actually going.

A technology adviser fills that gap. Our managed IT support handles the operational work while the strategy service connects technology decisions to business goals, budgets and risk.

What the strategy service covers

We start with the business: where it is now, where it expects to be over the next 12 to 24 months and what could get in the way.

From that, we build a technology roadmap: a practical, budgeted plan that sequences your investments. It might put a cloud migration in Q2, a security uplift in Q3 and a new CRM in Q4. Each initiative carries a business case, a timeline and a cost.

Between the big projects, your fractional CTO picks up the strategic work that otherwise falls through the cracks. Renewals get reviewed and renegotiated before they auto-extend. New software requests get checked against your architecture standards. The IT budget gets an annual planning cycle and quarterly reviews.

Connect technology and compliance where required

For firms within scope of FCA operational resilience or DORA, technology plans need to account for important services, third-party dependencies, incident handling and recovery capability.

We support the technology and evidence side of that work alongside your compliance and legal advisers. The same disciplined planning is useful to any business, regulated or not.

M&A technology due diligence: what you are buying

If you are acquiring or merging, technology due diligence decides how much of the surprise you meet before completion rather than after. We assess the target’s infrastructure, contracts, security posture, technical debt and integration complexity — and we go looking specifically at the places cost hides, such as undocumented legacy systems and software licences that do not transfer with the company.

You get a report your deal team can use: what the technology is worth, what integration will cost, and which risks you are taking on. See how we approach IT due diligence for private equity transactions.

A level of involvement that can change

Engagements usually start at two days a month and move with what you need. We agree the shape of it with you and revisit it as the business changes. We work alongside your existing IT team or provider and fill the strategic layer that operational IT does not reach.

Tell us what would make IT easier

Share what is causing problems or taking up time. Our London team replies during business hours.

We respond within 2 hours during business days. Your data is handled per our privacy policy.

Contact details

0330 043 7414

Mon-Fri 8am-6pm

[email protected]

We reply within 2 hours

71-75 Shelton Street

Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ

IT assessment

A review of your IT, your security posture and your compliance readiness, free of charge.

  • 30-minute consultation call
  • Infrastructure & security review
  • Compliance gap analysis
  • Custom recommendations report

What you get from us

Move beyond maintenance

Managed IT keeps things running. Technology strategy decides what should change, why it matters and what to invest in next.

A clear view of technology for your board

Your board gets updates it can act on: where the risk sits, what each investment costs, and what the business gets back for it — set out the way the rest of the board pack is.

Use the level of support you need

Start with regular planning and increase the involvement during a project, acquisition, office move or other period of change.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How much time does a fractional CTO spend with us?

It depends on your needs. Most clients start with 2-4 days per month, which includes a leadership meeting, vendor reviews, project oversight, and strategic planning. Engagements can scale up during periods of change like office moves, M&A, or major projects.

Is this different from your managed IT support?

Yes. Managed IT support handles day-to-day operations — helpdesk, monitoring, patching. Fractional CTO services are strategic: roadmap planning, budgeting, vendor management, and board reporting. Many clients use both, and they complement each other.

What kind of companies benefit most from this?

Businesses with 20-200 employees who have outgrown ad-hoc IT decision-making but are not large enough to justify a full-time CTO. We work with hedge funds, PE firms, law firms, consultancies, and [fast-growing startups](/industries/startups/).

Can your fractional CTO attend our board meetings?

Yes. We can attend board and leadership meetings to explain technology priorities, risks, costs and progress in business terms.

What happens during M&A due diligence?

We assess the target company's technology stack, contracts, technical debt, security posture, and integration complexity. We provide a clear report with risks, costs, and a post-acquisition integration plan.