Blueteam vCIO

vCIO FAQ's

• Do vCIO services occur at set, regular intervals?

  If it doesn’t get planned, it’s not likely to get done. True vCIO services occur at set intervals (quarterly, biannually, etc.). That way, a rhythm gets established, and your company decision-makers know when to expect recommendations for IT improvements. Too many MSPs offer vCIO services on an unscheduled, ad hoc basis—meaning that, at best, they’re unpredictable and thus not helpful for actual planning, or, at worst, they happen rarely, if ever.

• Are vCIO recommendations based on actual data related to your company’s systems?

  Blueteam bases its recommendations on data from ongoing assessments of our clients’ systems against standards intended to maximize both productivity and security. Any IT professional can tell you when your server is old and should probably be replaced. Blueteam can make that same recommendation based on the actual impact it would have on your business, and help you prioritize it based on your budget and other key needs you may have.

• Do Blueteam's vCIO meetings involve valuable business strategy conversations, or are they just veiled sales calls?

  This one is tricky but no less important. True, any vCIO will recommend projects to improve your IT—just like a CIO would make recommendations to a CEO. However, a good vCIO will make such recommendations with your budget in mind and will help you strategize by pointing out which recommendations will have the most impact on your business and your goals, and which ones can wait till a later date. If a vCIO shows up with a list of recommendations and does not even consider your budget, goals, or timing needs, that’s a good sign that they see the meeting primarily as a sales call, rather than a value-add service. One way to tell on the front end whether an MSP’s vCIO services will be valuable is to consider whether their agreement incentivizes them to think like your internal IT department.