How can a Fractional Tech Director help your business?
The term ‘Fractional Director’ has emerged over the last years, starting with finance, but you can now find fractional directors across many professional disciplines. If the term is new to you, it simply means that the director is working for a number of different companies (dividing their time into fractions). At Journi we offer a Fractional Tech Director service. What benefit would the service bring to your business?
It is difficult to think of a business that doesn’t use technology, or where productivity couldn’t be improved by better use of technology. Most businesses are now very reliant on it. Yet not every founder and business owner is a tech professional. Where founders do have the relevant tech expertise, they often find their time very stretched across many different areas so cannot devote the time they need to it.
In both these scenarios founders would benefit from a tech director to take responsibility and manage all things tech on their behalf. However, smaller businesses and start-ups don’t need someone senior all the time, just a few days a month, nor can they afford someone full time. That’s why a fractional tech director makes so much sense. You get access to the expertise you need, without the burden of a full-time salary.
Instead of employing a tech director, many businesses make the mistake of employing someone junior (more affordable) full time or engaging external suppliers to manage their tech. There are huge risks with both these approaches.
Tech strategy is a complex job. Arguably more money is wasted on technology than on any other business area because so many organisations get it wrong. There are numerous high-profile examples of even major organisations buying the wrong software, or leaving security holes that allow criminals into the system. Getting the tech right is critical to business survival.
Employing external suppliers to manage specific projects or business services is not advisable if you don’t have the expertise and time in-house to manage them. It is believed that this was one of the mistakes the Post Office made in the recent scandal. External suppliers’ top line aim is to make a profit for their business, not to protect and do what’s best for yours. It is therefore critical that you have someone in the business who can challenge the work of suppliers and ensure they’re delivering to the standards you need.
If you are a start-up, looking for investors, they will typically carry out due diligence on your technology. We’ve worked with founders who have had all funding opportunities halted due to issues in the code of their tech products, that the founders themselves weren’t expert enough to spot. We’ve been brought in to solve the problem, but it would have been far easier, quicker and cheaper to have been in a position to manage the quality during the build.
A Journi Fractional Tech Director is paid a flat rate to work on behalf of your business, to manage and take responsibility for all aspects of technology. We will carry out a holistic review of your tech and business during a discovery phase and we will then make recommendations on what you need to deliver your business goals. We will ensure that your systems are set up securely and effectively. And we will consider how technology can be better utilised to deliver sustainable growth for your business.
We’re confident that you will quickly see Journi as a key part of your business journey. Our contribution to the growth of your business will pay dividends that more than cover the cost. And you will have one less thing to worry about. Get in touch!
