Fractional CIO
IT, security and data protection led by someone senior, for the hours your organisation needs it.
An experienced CIO, part-time and on demand
Someone senior to own your IT, security, suppliers and data protection, without a full-time hire. We put the policies, processes and certifications in place and keep them running, for a few hours a month or a couple of days a week.
You get the judgement of someone who has scaled regulatory compliance at a bank and built cloud platforms for government, without the salary and months-long search of a full-time CIO.
Who it's for
Organisations that need a CIO's judgement, but not yet a CIO's full week.
Selling to larger customers
Your customers send security questionnaires and ask for Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 or SOC 2 before they sign, and nobody in-house owns the answers.
No one owns IT
Laptops, accounts and software have been set up by whoever was nearest. Nobody is sure who has access to what, or what you're paying for.
Raising or selling
An investor or buyer is about to look at your IT, security and data protection. You'd rather find the problems before they do.
What you get
The four things a good CIO looks after, done for your organisation, whatever its size.
Data protection
Knowing what personal data you hold, where it lives and why: records of processing, privacy notices, impact assessments, data processing agreements with suppliers, and a tested process for subject access requests and breaches.
Security and certification
Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 or SOC 2, whichever your customers ask for: the gaps found and closed, policies people actually follow, evidence ready for the auditor, and security questionnaires answered.
IT and company processes
Devices, accounts and access managed properly: joiners set up on day one, leavers removed the same day, backups that restore, and written processes that survive the person who set them up leaving.
Suppliers and spend
One list of every supplier and subscription, with owners, contracts and renewal dates. Security checks on the suppliers who hold your data, better terms at renewal, and nothing paid for that nobody uses.
Ways to work together
Each engagement is shaped and priced on a free call, around what you need now. You can move between them as the business changes.
CIO on call
A few hours a month
A senior person to ask before you commit.
- Supplier contracts and renewals reviewed
- Security questionnaires and customer audits answered
- Monthly check-in, with help between calls when you need it
Embedded or interim CIO
A day or two a week
Part of your leadership team, owning IT, security and suppliers.
- Owns the IT roadmap, budget and suppliers
- Covers an outgoing CIO through a reorganisation or handover
- Reports to you and the board in plain language
Certification readiness
Fixed scope
Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 or SOC 2, from gap assessment to audit.
- Gaps against the standard found and ranked
- Policies, controls and evidence put in place
- Support through the audit with your chosen certification body
Due diligence preparation
Fixed scope
Before you raise or sell: your IT, security and data protection ready to be looked at.
- Problems found and fixed before the buyer finds them
- Data room documents written and organised
- Answers ready for the investor's or buyer's questions
How it starts
From the first call to a steady rhythm in about three weeks. A minimum of one hour after the free call.
15 minutes
Free call
Tell us where things are and what's worrying you. We'll say plainly whether we can help, and how.
Week 1–2
Discovery
We map your systems, suppliers, data and policies, talk to the people who run them, and look at what it all costs.
Week 2–3
The plan
A written plan: priorities, risks, certifications and what we will do each week, agreed with you before we start.
Ongoing
A steady rhythm
Regular reviews of progress against the plan, with decisions made quickly and written down.
Who you work with
Alla Babkina, Innovective's founder, has spent 13 years helping products launch and succeed, after an earlier career in corporate law. Recent work includes expanding a clearing bank into Europe, scaling regulatory compliance and launching a global marketplace.
More about AllaFractional CIO FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional CIO. Get in touch if yours isn't here.
A senior IT leader who works with you part of the time instead of full time. They own the technology the business runs on: IT, security, suppliers and data protection, for the hours you need it, without a full-time executive salary or a long search. Because they work with several organisations, they bring what they've seen work elsewhere.
A CTO leads a product and the engineering team building it. A CIO looks after the technology the whole organisation runs on: IT, suppliers, security, compliance and data protection. If your technology is what you sell, you want a CTO; if it's what keeps the business running, you want a CIO. Some companies need both. A free call will tell you which.
We get you ready, and we stay with you through the audit. The certificate itself comes from an independent body: a Cyber Essentials certification body, an accredited ISO 27001 auditor, or a CPA firm for a SOC 2 report. We help you choose one and handle the auditor's questions.
Usually the one your customers ask for. Cyber Essentials is the quickest and is often required for UK public sector contracts. ISO 27001 is what larger UK and European customers tend to expect. SOC 2 is what US customers tend to ask for. If nobody has asked yet, Cyber Essentials is the sensible first step.
No. We do the operational side: what personal data you hold and where, the records of processing, data protection impact assessments, supplier agreements, and the processes for subject access requests and breaches. Legal advice stays with your lawyers, and we work alongside them.
Yes. We can step in as interim CIO, keep systems, suppliers and the team running through the change, and help you hire and hand over to the next person.
Yes. Your provider keeps the day-to-day support. We set the direction, check their work against the contract, and decide what should change, so you have someone on your side when you deal with them.
As little as an hour after the free 15-minute call. Most clients settle into either a few hours a month on call, or a day or two a week embedded with the team. Certification and due diligence preparation are fixed-scope pieces of work.
Our standing confidentiality commitment covers everything you share with us from the first conversation. Once we work together, the signed agreement sets out confidentiality and intellectual property in full, and the policies and documents we write for you become yours once they're paid for.
Yes. We're based in the south of England and work with clients worldwide across more than 14 hours of time difference. We can travel for workshops, audits or key meetings; travel is charged as expenses plus an agreed fee.