# Benefits of the Fractional CTO Model *by: [Scott Booher, Fractional CTO](https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbooher/)* The fractional CTO model has been gaining popularity among early-stage digital health firms. Advantages of leveraging a fractional CTO include: - An opportunity to leverage an experienced leader, with substantial technical depth and breadth, before a full-time CTO is warranted (or can be funded). - To ensure that key/early decisions and the technology foundations of the company's tech stack and platforms are sound. - To benefit from leaders who have been down a similar path being traveled, solving complex business challenges in the same industry - with highly regulated healthcare segments being great candidates. - To scale up/down technical leadership quickly and cost-effectively with strategic development efforts. - For an objective perspective on any aspect of the technology organization, whether it be staff review, pending decisions and investments, strategic partnerships, tech roadmaps, acquisitions, compliance status or product/IP valuation. - To leverage leaders who have interviewed, hired, and mentored hundreds of technical staff over a career and across organizational models - with a strong sense of who will be the right candidates, in the right seats, at this moment in a company's growth cycle. ### Fractional CTO Scope Following is a non-exhaustive list of efforts for which a fractional CTO may be a good option: >**Strategy** - Tech & Product vision; Roadmap and business objectives alignment; Strategic partnership build and nurture; Product and service strategies. >**Product** - Development and delivery; Road mapping and alignment; Newco product launches including strategy, architecture, and planning. >**Development** - Software development methodology (SDLC); SDLC process redesign; Software quality improvement; Architecture planning; Tech stack and tooling decisions. >**Staff Optimization** - Staff assessment/management; Team scale and process maturation; Organizational redesign; Key hires. >**Tech Operations** - Scalability/availability assessment and planning; Technology research and due-diligence evaluation; Budgeting and ROI evaluation; Contract review and negotiation; KPI development; Cloud strategy; Cloud and platform migrations; Partner engagement; Strategic program oversight; Defect management. >**Governance** - Risk, security, and compliance management; Compliance/HITRUST/HIPAA readiness assessment & program management. ### Fractional CTOs for Startups Fractional CTOs are a great choice for early-stage healthcare firms, and there are several attributes of experienced healthcare CTOs that can be applied to the role: - A leader who can jump in and quickly assess what's needed across all facets of engineering and product development - despite limited staff and support resources. - Leveraging substantial tech stack experience to make critical decisions on product/platform architecture, ensuring long-term scalability and resilience while minimizing the need for future rework. - Uses his/her network to attract and recruit key positions within the technology organization. - Can easily transition from MVP focus to a comprehensive product roadmap, to be shared with key customers. Transforms one-off efforts into repeatable and scalable processes including software development life cycle (SDLC), quality programs, reliability initiatives, security measures, reporting and analytics, etc. - Healthcare entrants often sell into demanding sectors such as payers, providers, and life science customers, each with high expectations for product quality and regulatory compliance. These customers anticipate that the tech organization will be led by a seasoned professional who will not only represent the product effectively, but also understands and acknowledges the intricate compliance and regulatory challenges of the space - and demonstrates that seriousness of approach. ### Fractional CTOs for Private Equity Fractional CTO services are particularly well-suited for the Private Equity segment, with benefits across all stages: >**Pre-Acquisition** - Assistance with [[Technical Due Diligence|due diligence]], staff and leadership evaluation, IP valuation with focused attention to how the acquired firm's technology assets may be leveraged in a future roll-up, tuck-in or other opportunity across portfolio firms. >**Value Creation** - Optimizing tech operations, increasing efficiency and value-for-money of invested capital, ensuring successful execution of product/service roadmaps and customer commitments, implementing shared services models and executing against roll-up/tuck-in strategies. >**Pre-Exit** - Remediating operations and compliance gaps that will pop up in acquirer diligence efforts; maturing staff, process and operations for asset presentation. ### Conclusion Bringing in a fractional CTO can be great move for digital health firms looking to leverage technology, drive innovation, and achieve business objectives in a cost-effective and flexible manner. > [!tip] Contact Scott Booher > > [email](mailto:[email protected]) > >[linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbooher/) ### More Views to Consider [The benefits of getting senior-level experience with fractional hiring | SVB](https://www.svb.com/startup-insights/startup-growth/getting-senior-level-experience-with-fractional-hiring/) [The Value of the Fractional Chief Technology Officer | InformationWeek](https://www.informationweek.com/it-leadership/the-value-of-the-fractional-chief-technology-officer) [Does Your Tech Startup Really Need A Founding CTO? | Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/12/01/does-your-tech-startup-really-need-a-founding-cto) [CIOs for hire shift focus as clients tackle cyber, AI rollouts | CIO Dive](https://www.ciodive.com/news/fractional-CIO-for-hire-AI/705147/) [Should you hire a fractional CTO? | Raconteur](https://www.raconteur.net/leadership/fractional-cto)