Fractional CIO · vCIO
A fractional CIO — also called a vCIO or virtual CIO — is a Technology Leadership Partnership: a seasoned administrator and strategist in your corner every month, for a flat fee. Built for 10–75 person businesses in East Tennessee, and for shops that already have an admin who needs a senior backstop. How this sits next to fractional CISO →
If you have an in-house admin, a helpdesk, or an MSP of record, this retainer is not a takeover. Avery sits with that person on vendors, budget, roadmap, and the projects that stall when everyone is drowning in tickets. Day-to-day ownership stays where it is.
If you have an admin, a helpdesk, or an out-of-town MSP, we do not replace them. We sit next to that person: vendors, budget, security program, surge, and someone who can be in the building. Tickets and day-to-day ownership stay where they are unless you ask otherwise.
The owner or office manager is making technology decisions after things are already expensive. The partnership puts a plan, a budget, and a monthly call in place so you are not living on break-fix.
We do not sell hardware or software. Recommendations are what is right for the business. Agreements are month-to-month. Stay because it is working.
Dedicated call: performance, upcoming needs, priorities.
Passwords, backups, access, and the threat picture — regularly, not once after an incident.
A written 12-month plan and what it will cost.
Evaluate, negotiate, and oversee the stack so you stop overpaying.
Annual technology budget in the business plan. Fewer surprise invoices.
Email and phone access at the tier you pick — not a black hole.
The owner is tired of being the person who approves every Microsoft invoice and still does not know if the backup restores. The admin is competent and underwater. The last “IT strategy” was a quote from a vendor who sells the stack they recommended.
Avery’s vCIO retainer is a recurring working session plus written follow-up. You leave each month knowing: what we will do, what we will not buy, what it will cost, and who owns the next action. Between sessions you get advisory at the tier you picked — not a black hole, not a 15-minute billable increment.
We do not take over Active Directory on day one. We do not rebrand your helpdesk. If the environment is on fire, that is incident response first. If you only need tickets and patching, that is managed IT. This page is the leadership seat.
After that, the monthly call is maintenance of the plan: what slipped, what the business is about to change, what the insurer asked. Executive tier adds time in the building.
Simple monthly pricing. No hourly surprises. No emergency premiums on advisory inside the retainer.
$1,500 / month
For businesses ready to move beyond purely reactive IT.
$2,500 / month
Full technology leadership for a growing shop.
$3,500 / month
On-site presence and guidance for staff you already employ.
East Tennessee / Tri-Cities. Remote advisory anywhere. Onsite within 30 miles of Johnson City at the Executive tier; farther by arrangement. If the network is on fire, start with incident response.
Fractional leadership only works if the person on the call has actually run the stack. Avery Parker has.
Office at 4100 North Roan Street, Suite 208, Johnson City, TN 37604. Onsite across the Tri-Cities and Western North Carolina. You talk to Avery, not a tier-1 queue. Retainers are month-to-month. We do not sell you a stack we are paid to push — vendor-neutral advice.
This is Avery Parker’s practice. Scheduled work is booked. Incident response jumps the queue. If he is already on a site, you hear that on the first call — not after you have waited. Partner MSPs get a scoped window in writing. We do not invent a second-shift team we do not have.
No. vCIO is the monthly leadership call, budget, and vendor stack. Day-to-day tickets stay with your admin or MSP unless you ask otherwise.
Essential: a 60-minute strategy call, email advisory in 48 hours, annual security posture review, a written roadmap, vendor review, and a continuity look. Higher tiers add phone, budget tracking, and onsite.
Yes — 20 minutes on the calendar at the contact page. We will say if a partnership fits or if you only need a project.
Free 20-minute call. We will tell you honestly whether a partnership fits.
