Questions
What a fractional CTO does, and what the Operating Brief is.
What is a fractional CTO?
A senior technology seat, part time. The job is to decide what the business should keep, replace, refuse, and secure — then stay long enough to see those decisions through. It is not a help desk, and it is not a new name for a managed service provider.
How is this different from the company that already runs our computers?
If they keep email working, the backups running, and the tickets moving, keep them. That is operations. A fractional CTO is paid to tell you whether the next purchase is wise, whether the vendor list still makes sense, and which risk actually belongs to the owner. Those are different jobs. They can sit side by side.
What do we get from the Operating Brief?
A written look at how technology is carrying the business: the systems you named, the vendors and risks that matter in your industry, what to leave alone this year, and the decisions that should come first. It is not a slide deck and it is not a proposal with a product attached.
What does it cost?
The Operating Brief is free. If you want an ongoing seat after you have read it, the scope and the fee are written down before any work starts. There is no public rate card, because a five-lawyer firm and a plant with a night shift are not the same engagement. You can stop after the brief.
Do you work outside Central Texas?
Yes. The practice is based in Waco and works remotely with firms elsewhere. Travel happens when the building is part of the problem — a closet, a clinic wing, a shop floor — not as a ritual.
Will you tell us to replace everything?
Usually no. Most of the waste is overlap, unclear ownership, and a contract about to be signed because a demo went well. Replacing a practice-management system or an ERP is a rare recommendation, and only when the current one is actually failing the business.
Is this a fit for a very small firm, or only for larger ones?
Headcount matters less than whether technology decisions are currently being made by default. The practice is aimed at privately held firms that feel the cost of a bad decision and are not yet at the point where a full-time CTO is a sensible hire.
Do you resell software or take vendor fees?
No. There is nothing to resell, and no referral fee from a product company. If a tool is the right one, it is named because it fits. If the right move is to renew what you have, that is what the brief says.
What should we not put in the form?
Do not send passwords, Social Security numbers, patient records, client files, or matter documents. A plain description of the systems is enough. The brief is about the shape of the technology, not the contents of the files.
What happens to the information we send?
It is used to write the Operating Brief and to reply to the person named on the form. It is not sold. On this site, the request is kept in the browser that submitted it and can be emailed or copied from the confirmation screen. See the privacy note for the full account.