The rapid rate of technological change can be overwhelming. Everyone sometimes needs to have a virtual CIO on call. A virtual CIO can help the CIO, IT director, or business owner evaluate new technology, translate between IT and the business units, motivate and mentor effectively, and keep the big picture in focus. This holistic approach helps to create value, integrate systems, save costs, lower risks, increase innovation and produce successful outcomes. IT Consultation — Expert, unbiased advice on a breadth of operational and strategic areas. This is tailored to the organization’s need, size, culture, and cost preferences. It may consist of providing a second opinion; briefing on industry best practices (e.g., for disaster recovery); building a support infrastructure (e.g., for mobile device support); or doing the problem analysis, plan, cost justification and presentations to the Board, among other possibilities. Cloud Readiness Audits — Assessment of existing systems architecture, recommendations on which operational, financial, and accounting processes that could be moved to the cloud, and how to do so. Rescue Assessments — Highly focused, impartial review of breakdowns in systems, applications, infrastructure and more. No finger-pointing, just a solid plan to fix the problem and get you back on track. Support for Relocations — Experienced and thorough guidance in planning and executing the relocation of servers, networking and other computing assets to ensure efficiency, safety and continuity of operations. Mentoring — Skills assessment and development; executive coaching; linking business and technology objectives to team performance; and requirements definition for strategic staffing.

1. WHITEPAPER
A Guide to CIO
Advisory Services

2. 1 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
A Guide to CIO Advisory Services
Executive Summary
The IT function in both small and midsize businesses is under stress. For years,
increasing competition for financial resources has forced virtually every IT
organization to do more with less, use existing IT assets and keep systems online.
At the same time, wave upon wave of disruptive technology offers potentially more
compelling value propositions or competitive advantages than the traditional data
center infrastructure. The push and pull of these competing forces can simply
overwhelm the ability of the IT director—or controller, CIO, CFO, President or
CEO, whoever does the job—to evaluate alternatives, adapt to changing business
needs, or simply keep up with existing projects.
Meanwhile, frustrated with the pace of response from IT, some business managers
take matters into their own hands. Often called “shadow IT,” they may implement a
departmental solution or buy mobile devices, for example, without understanding
the full impact on the organization’s infrastructure, operations, or costs. Bypassing IT
controls can lead to unfortunate results: creating more data silos or more seriously,
compromising data security.
Other managers complain that lack of alignment between IT and the business unit
hampers their ability to achieve revenue or other goals. Such complaints undermine
the CIO’s ability to be an effective member of the management team.
In the worst case, the relevance of the CIO role is called into question. Critics
have argued that IT is merely a commodity and a cost center; it does not require
representation in the C-suite. If this point of view prevails, then no one speaks for
the applications and infrastructure, and nobody takes a holistic, enterprise-wide
view of the function it performs. Yet the IT infrastructure is called the “backbone”
for good reason; it holds the organization together and enables it to move towards
its business goals.
While many mid-market companies typically have a CIO in place, start-ups and
small businesses frequently don’t. Small business owners often act as their own
CIO. They may not have the right skills or the right team to build and manage
the infrastructure. Typically they have nowhere to turn for guidance. Certainly
they don’t have time to do their own job and the CIO’s at the same time.
In both small and mid-size businesses, CIO Advisory Services can enhance the
owner’s or CIO’s personal effectiveness in a number of ways (see sidebar).
This white paper explores the impact that such services can have on the business.
• By temporarily assuming
part of the operational load,
freeing them to identify
needs, strategize, and partner
with business executives
• By acting as an independent
advisor or project manager
with comparable senior
technology management
experience, but greater
expertise in a particular
domain
• By coaching and mentoring
the IT Director/CIO as needed
• By augmenting available
resources with project staffing
How can CIO
Advisory Services
enhance the
CEO/Owner’s or
IT Director/CIO’s
personal effectiveness?

3. 2 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
The Changing Role of the CIO
For simplicity, let’s agree to call the person who manages IT the CIO, because no
matter what their actual title is, they have certain role requirements to fulfill. These
are more formalized in larger organizations and more ad hoc in small ones. Building
and maintaining the infrastructure—the technology, applications, services, and
staffing used to support the business—used to be the CIO’s only job. Now it is a core
competency, one of the four main roles the “next-gen CIO” is being asked to play,
says Ray Wang, CEO and analyst, Constellation Research. The ideal CIO will play all
four roles; the less well-rounded one risks losing some of his functions to business
leaders and teams. Wang says this is starting to happen in many of his firm’s clients.
These roles, or “personas” as Wang calls them, are Chief Infrastructure Officer,
Chief Integration Officer, Chief Intelligence Officer, and Chief Innovation Officer.
Their profiles appear in Figure 1 (“How do you spell CIO?”), along with notes on three
dimensions of the role: How much of the total IT budget does that persona control?
Does that role require a technology or a business focus? Is it internal-facing or
external-facing? These roles move across the spectrum from an internal-facing
technology focus to an edgier position with a dual technology/business, internal/
external orientation—and from an operational to a strategic perspective.
A report from the Info-Tech Research Group recommends a similar movement from
a purely technical to a combined technology and business focus. The title tells why:
“Being a Strategic Enabler Ensures the CIO Role Remains Relevant.” According to the
report, “as long as CIOs act like glorified operational managers, they will jeopardize
the strategic influence of the CIO position. There will always be a need for someone
to maintain servers and networks, but this person will not be needed at the executive
table. Today’s CIO must find the balance between business needs and technology
capabilities. This CIO needs to turn IT into an internal consultancy that will work to
leverage the technological infrastructure to build new business functionality.”i
What are the 4
personas of the Next
Generation CIO?
1. Chief Infrastructure Officer
2. Chief Integration Officer
3. Chief Intelligence Officer
4. Chief Innovation Officer
FIGURE 1
How do you spell CIO?
Role % of Budget Purpose Focus Faces
Chief Infrastructure
Officer
65-70%
Cost reduction; availability; maintenance of
legacy systems
Technology Faces Internally
Chief Integration Officer 5-10%
Bring together business processes, data, systems,
legacy systems and newer cloud-based approaches
Technology
Faces Internally &
Externally
Chief Intelligence Officer 10-15% Improve business user access to information Business Faces Internally
Chief Innovation Officer 5-10%
Understand business strategy; keep up to date
with disruptive technology
Business &
Technology
Faces Internally &
Externally
Source: 4 Personas of the Next Generation CIO (http://www.cio.com/article/671573/4_Personas_of_the_Next_Generation_CIO)

4. 3 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
Info-Tech’s action plan for building such a consultancy contains these steps:
• Forge links between business and IT strategies and processes
• Develop indicators that link IT performance metrics to business goals
• Secure resources for innovations by identifying opportunities rather than by cutting costs
• Align IT team members with business units and leverage their capabilities by developing
training opportunities
The CIO Advisory Services model is geared to work with management as well as
IT and systems staff in implementing these action steps.
The 80/20 Rule
Becoming a “next-gen CIO” is hardest on those who started as IT administrators, were
promoted up through the IT ranks as the business grew, and have had their hands full
just with maintaining availability. Wang notes that most CIO’s are in their comfort zone
for the first two roles—Infrastructure and Integration—but have to stretch to perform
as Chief Intelligence Officer and Chief Innovation Officer. These two roles, which
ideally control 20% of the IT budget, increasingly go to tech-savvy business leaders.
Every CIO knows the 80/20 rule, the Pareto principle, stating that 80% of the effects
come from 20% of the causes. The principle has many applications in business, such
as that 80% of your orders come from 20% of your customers. The application
that concerns us here is that based on Figure 1 above, 20% of the IT budget has to
produce 80% of the competitive advantages from technology.
As a practical example that companies of all sizes can relate to, consider the claims
associated with cloud computing. Rick Nucci, founder and CTO of Dell Boomi, which
markets a platform for integrating cloud and on-premises applications, says, “Cloud
[computing] is more than moving IT from the data center and scaling it into the cloud.
Customers currently have an 80/20 paradox – 80% is maintaining the stuff you already
have, 20% is getting to innovation. This paradox is a main driver for moving to the
cloud. Cloud provides the fundamentals (free trials, automatic upgrades, constant
streams of innovation, reduced CapEx expenses) to flip flop the 80/20, so IT can
deliver more innovation to their customers and focus less on maintenance.”ii
Andcloudcomputingisnotaloneinpromisingcompetitiveadvantagesfrominnovation.
Especially in mid-size and larger companies, various other disruptive technologies—
Bring your own device (BYOD), mobile technology, social media, Big Data—clamor
for attention. If they don’t get it from the CIO, they get it from business champions.
IBM’s “State of Marketing 2012” survey found that fully 60 percent of marketers point
to their lack of alignment with the company’s IT department as the biggest obstacle to
reaching today’s consumers across new channels including mobile devices and social
networks.iii
Capgemini says that “The exploitation of Big Data fuels a step change
in the quality of business decision-making,” but the biggest obstacle to taking that
step for most organizations is finding qualified data analysts.iv
“Customers currently
have an 80/20 paradox
– 80% is maintaining
the stuff you already
have, 20% is getting to
innovation. This paradox
is a main driver for
moving to the Cloud.”
Rick Nucci, Founder and CTO, Dell Boomi

5. 4 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
Which of these disruptive technologies has the most promise? What competitive
advantage do they offer your organization? Which solutions should you select?
How can you combine technologies and what could you accomplish if you did?
How would that impact the systems environment and the bottom line? Should you
migrate some of the legacy systems to the cloud in order to free up time and money
to retrain and reallocate staff into other roles such as data analysts and application
developers? These are the kinds of questions an internal IT consultancy under the
direction of the Chief Intelligence Officer and the Chief Innovation officer would field.
If such an internal consultancy does not exist, CIO Advisory Services can fill this gap.
“From a technology perspective, it’s the best time in history to be in business as more
capabilities are available at a lower flexible price point than ever before. However,
navigating those options and turning them into business profits can lead to decision
paralysis,” says Ryan Risley, Managing Director of CIO Advisory Services, Brittenford
Systems. In addition to moving decisions along, a virtual CIO can help the whole
organization focus on the big picture—a holistic view of business objectives and the
infrastructure to support them.
See the Big Picture
For the record, let’s define IT infrastructure as cio.gov does: “IT infrastructure
consists of the equipment, systems, software, and services used in common across
an organization, regardless of mission/program/project. IT Infrastructure also
serves as the foundation upon which mission/program/project-specific systems and
capabilities are built.” Many argue—correctly, we think—that human resources are
also vital components of the infrastructure.
Infrastructure is the glue that holds the business together, and it is your biggest IT
investment. Once built, the infrastructure provides a solid platform and enables
business agility that empowers future application choices. Choosing and configuring
the right components to build an IT infrastructure that is reliable, appropriate for
your organization, and able to grow with it is a major challenge. That is why it comes
first among “4 Reasons Why IT Matters More than Ever,” the title of a recent article
in CIO magazine.
Its author asks, “Who selects these vendors? Who comes up with the jargon necessary
to translate business requirements into technical mandates? Who sorts through the
requests for proposals?”v
Even if IT is outsourced or consumed as a cloud service, these
and similar tasks remain essential. As applications move to the cloud, infrastructure
support staffers will evolve into vendor relationship managers.
Ryan Risley, Managing Director of CIO
Advisory Services, Brittenford Systems

6. 5 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
The rapid rate of technological change has already exceeded any company’s ability to
absorb and synthesize, and is still increasing. However, unlike most other areas of the
organization, IT has formalized and systematized practices for change management—
which is arguably the Chief Innovation Officer’s most necessary skill. It is based
on taking a holistic perspective of the network architecture, process interactions,
application capabilities and data dependencies that must come together for end-to-end
delivery of IT services. You can never change just one thing in a systems environment;
everything is interconnected. This realization gives IT practitioners respect for the
Law of Unintended Consequences.
The CIO—and any virtual CIO engaged for special needs—must be someone who
understands the big picture, but can translate it and motivate people to take next
steps. Otherwise, the inherent complexities become paralyzing.
How to Choose a Virtual CIO
We are in the middle of a paradigm shift comparable to the infiltration of personal
computing into the “glass-house” data center of the 1980s and the Internet explosion
of the 1990s. Most businesses will need help in planning and managing the transitions
ahead. What should they look for and what should they expect from the CIO
Advisory Services model?
Figure 2 (“Advisory Services Model”) offers a way to visualize the four pillars
of this model: strategy, domain expertise, mentoring, and resource augmentation.
An established CIO Advisory practice is likely to offer all four components in a
unique combination of personal strengths, platform- and industry-specific skills,
and business know-how. Your own needs determine which offering has the most
to contribute at a given time.
FIGURE 2
CIO Advisory Services Model
Mentoring
Help the CIO or his reports
develop strategic skills
Strategy
Act as trusted advisor, sounding
board or second opinion
Resource Augmentation
Enable IT to increase capacity in
needed areas on a project basis
Domain Expertise
Bring specialized knowledge to bear
on technology or business decisions

7. 6 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
Ideally, a virtual CIO will have working experience with multidisciplinary IT teams and
many different organizations. The project at hand may dictate whether to engage a
specialist in your vertical market or a technology expert with broad cross-industry
implementation experience. A vertical specialist is a good choice if you are looking for
business strategy as part of the advisory package. Emphasizing technical credentials
is a good idea when you need a roadmap or a second opinion.
Unlike management consultants who provide a plan then leave you to execute it, a
virtual CIO can give you strategic direction and also can execute on the strategic,
tactical, or operational level, whether alone or with special project staffing. And unlike
an interim CTO, a virtual CIO is not a candidate for a full-time position with your
company. They are engaged on a project basis but need to think strategically about
where the project fits in. From an outside perspective, a virtual CIO can often keep
an organization focused on the end business objective to be achieved, and not just
the particular application or process that needs to be built or fixed.
CIO Advisory Services, such as the sample services described below, can help the CIO
build alliances among stakeholders, translate between IT and the business units,
motivate and mentor effectively, and keep the big picture in focus for everybody.
This holistic approach helps to integrate systems, save costs, lower risks, increase
innovation and produce successful outcomes.
Sample CIO Advisory Services
The range of possible CIO Advisory Services is limited only by the buyer’s needs
and the provider’s capabilities. Here are the most popular categories.
• IT Consultation — Expert, unbiased advice on a broad variety of issues. This is tailored
to the organization’s need, size, culture, and cost preferences. It may consist of providing
a second opinion; briefing on industry best practices (e.g., for disaster recovery); building
a support structure (e.g., for mobile device support); or doing the problem analysis, plan,
cost justification and presentation to the Board, among other possibilities.
• Cloud Readiness Audits — Assessment of existing systems architecture, recommendations
on which operational, financial, and accounting processes that could be moved to the
cloud, and how to do so.
• Rescue Assessments — Highly focused, impartial review of breakdowns in systems,
applications, infrastructure and more. No finger-pointing, just a solid plan to fix the
problem and get you back on track.
• Support for IT Relocations — Experienced and thorough guidance in planning and
executing the relocation of servers, networking and other computing assets to ensure
efficiency, safety and continuity of operations.
• Mentoring — Skills assessment and development; executive coaching; linking business and
technology objectives to team performance; requirements definition for strategic staffing.
“From a technology
perspective, it’s the best
time in history to be
in business as more
capabilities are available
at a lower flexible price
point than ever before.
However navigating those
options and turning them
into business profits can
lead to decision paralysis.”
Ryan Risley, Managing Director of CIO
Advisory Services, Brittenford Systems

8. 7 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
CIO Advisory Services Client Profile
Company: KippsDeSanto & Company, www.kippsdesanto.com
Business: Investment bank for growth-oriented defense and technology companies
Client Perspective:
Managing Director Kevin DeSanto says, “When we started our business, we faced a
fundamental choice: should we take charge of the IT function ourselves or outsource it?
We had limited expertise as technology managers—and even less time—so our startup
IT infrastructure did not meet our needs. We found an excellent professional services
firm that listened to our needs and offered to act as our virtual CIO. The Brittenford
team has been a crucial partner in our growth by providing deep, broad, and responsive
service, ranging from trouble-shooting to provisioning to advice on best practices
for security policies and procedures.”
Key Requirements:
• Fast growth path, cost effective structure, high performance collaboration platform,
proven reliable platform
• Sample deliverables: fast and secure large file repository, centralized pipeline
management, and BYOD policy guidance
Key Challenges:
• Needed to protect their intellectual property, ensure high staff productivity, and
provide anywhere access
• Had outgrown its in-house Client/Deal Management system
Key Outcomes:
• Provided mobile device management and secure file access to enable analysts to
work remotely as needed
• Improved performance of document collaboration
• Increased visibility into deal pipeline and key client interactions via MSCRM online
Kevin DeSanto, Managing Director,
KippsDeSanto & Company

9. 8 A GUIDE TO CIO ADVISORY SERVICES
About Brittenford
Brittenford Systems is a professional services firm that helps organizations harness
the power of their financial applications. The firm implements, trains, and supports
Microsoft Dynamics GP, Dynamics SL, and Dynamics CRM, along with Intacct, the
leading cloud financial management system. Brittenford Systems also offers cloud
engineering services, strategic infrastructure consulting and CIO advisory services.
For more information on Brittenford Systems, visit www.brittenford.com.
Brittenford Staffing is a full-service staffing service specialized in all aspects of
Microsoft Dynamics. For more information, visit www.brittenfordstaffing.com,
or call 703-860-6945.
For a complimentary CIO Advisory consultation, contact Brittenford Systems above.
References
i. infotech.com
http://www.infotech.com/research/being-a-
strategic-enabler-ensures-the-cio-role-
remains-relevant
ii. forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/
2011/12/03/executive-profiles-disruptive-
tech-leaders-in-cloud-computing-rick-nucci-
dell-boomi/
iii. crmadvocate.com
http://www.crmadvocate.com/idb/
41080b.html?goback=%2Egde_4371519_
member_127814611
iv. in.capgemini.com
http://www.in.capgemini.com/insights_and_
resources/news/capgemini-report-shows-
rising-impact-of-big-data-on-decisionmaking/
?goback=%2Egde_4371519_member_
128700907
v. cio.com
http://www.cio.com/article/711873/4_Rea-
sons_Why_IT_Matters_More_Than_
Ever?page=1&taxonomyId=3174