Your entire IT department, outsourced.
You need strategic technology leadership and decision-making, but you're not at the size — or budget — to justify a full-time CIO or an internal IT department. We don't just consult and hand you a report — we take on the job itself, running IT day-to-day as your outsourced department or plugging in at the strategic layer as your virtual CIO, including ownership of your AI roadmap specifically.
Five ways we lead — and run — your technology
From a fully embedded outsourced IT department to occasional strategic input, scaled and priced to fit where your company actually is.
We run IT, not just recommend it
This isn't a consulting engagement that shows up, finds problems, and leaves. We take on the job itself — infrastructure, systems, security oversight, and day-to-day technical operations — as your outsourced IT department, fully accountable for keeping it running.
The technology judgment you don't have in-house yet
We provide the strategic leadership and technical decision-making a growing company needs — evaluating what you actually need before recommending a platform, so technology serves the business strategy instead of the other way around.
What to adopt, in what order, and what to skip
With AI now a boardroom-level priority for nearly every service organization, we own your AI roadmap specifically — so you're not guessing your way through vendor pitches or reacting to whatever the loudest salesperson is selling this quarter.
A second set of eyes before you sign anything
We evaluate vendor pitches, negotiate contracts, and manage the relationships on your behalf — the same scrutiny an in-house CIO would apply, without the in-house overhead.
As much or as little as you actually need
Technology decisions keep getting made reactively, by whoever's available, when there's no dedicated leadership. We scale our involvement to fit your size and budget — from occasional strategic input, to an embedded virtual CIO, to a fully outsourced department running everything.
What reactive IT leadership actually costs
Estimated share of small-to-midsize organizations operating without any dedicated IT leadership or CIO-level decision-maker.
Of customer service leaders say they're under direct executive pressure to implement AI right now — usually without anyone owning that decision.
Estimated share of software and IT spend that goes toward redundant or underused tools when there's no centralized technical oversight.
Share of digital transformation initiatives that fail to fully meet their original goals (McKinsey) — often a symptom of decisions made without senior technical judgment.
Sources: McKinsey, Metrigy CX MetriCast 2026, and widely cited SMB technology leadership and software-spend industry benchmarks.
Where a typical IT budget actually goes
Building this out in-house means owning every one of these cost centers — not just the parts that are interesting.
Of a typical IT budget goes to personnel — the single largest line item, before a laptop or license is even purchased.
Goes to software and SaaS subscriptions — licenses that multiply quietly as the org grows and nobody's auditing what's actually used.
Goes to infrastructure, with cloud now representing roughly 45% of that category and still the fastest-growing piece of it.
Goes to security on average — 8–12% for most organizations, rising to 10–15% in higher-risk industries.
Goes to ongoing support and maintenance — help desk, patching, and the unglamorous work of keeping everything running.
What that means in dollars: a fully-loaded in-house CIO runs $400K+ a year once benefits and bonus are included; an IT Director typically costs $90–130K; support staff run $60–160K+ each once benefits, training, and turnover are factored in. For most companies, a full in-house department doesn't actually pencil out until you're past 150–200 employees.
Sources: ITBudgetCalculator.com IT budget benchmarks, Computer Economics/Avasant IT Spending & Staffing Benchmarks, Electric AI, and KORE1 CIO Salary Guide.
Stepping in as your technology leadership
Assess
We audit your current tech stack, spend, and how technology decisions actually get made today.
Plan
We build a prioritized roadmap — including the AI roadmap specifically — tied to your business goals and budget.
Lead
We step in as ongoing strategic leadership: evaluating vendors, managing contracts, and making the calls that need senior judgment.
Scale
We adjust the engagement as your company grows — more involvement when you need it, less when you don't.
What senior technology leadership is actually worth
Of software and IT spend often goes toward redundant or underused tools without centralized oversight — exactly what a vCIO is positioned to catch.
Typical fully-loaded cost of a full-time CIO hire — a fraction of that gets you the same strategic judgment, scaled to what you actually need.
We don't have a portfolio of client case studies to point to yet — Chaingent is early. What we do have is the industry data above, and 30 years of technology leadership experience, including the past three years spent in a senior leadership role owning BI, CCaaS/CX, AI, and Enterprise Applications strategy for a real BPO. A fractional CIO isn't a smaller version of the real thing — it's the same judgment, priced for a company that isn't ready to hire it full-time yet.
Making technology decisions reactively, by whoever's available?
Tell us what's not working, and we'll tell you what we'd actually do about it.
Contact Our Sales Team