A fractional CIO is a Chief Information Officer that you share with other businesses. The real value of a CIO is their ability to develop an overall IT strategy that aligns your technology and IT with your business goals. It is not econimically viable for most SMBs to retain a CIO in-house, but sharing that expense with other businesses makes it affordable. Truth be told, most SMBs don’t need a CIO spending 40 hours a week overseeing their day-to-day IT operations anyways.
With a fractional CIO you will get plenty of time with them up-front so that they can learn your business and develop your business’s IT strategy. After that, you will only need to meet with them occasionally to stay in-sync on your business plans. A fractional CIO will represent IT during executive meetings and will always be available to you when you have IT questions or concerns.