A senior CIO on retainer, without the senior-CIO salary.
Get the strategy, vendor neutrality and roadmap discipline of a senior IT executive at a fraction of the in-house cost. We sit on your side of the table and translate technology into business outcomes.
- Quarterly executive-readable roadmaps
- Vendor-neutral. We don't sell you the gear
- M&A, office moves and growth-stage planning
- Cyber-insurance and compliance readiness
35 years of CIO-level experience across 6+ industries.
Built for businesses that…
If any of these sound familiar, we should talk.
We hear these every week. The fix isn't another vendor, it's a team that owns the outcome.
Problem
Your team is making vendor decisions in a vacuum.
What we do
Independent advice and a written evaluation matrix.
Problem
Your "5-year IT plan" is a wishlist, not a budget.
What we do
A 3-year roadmap with quarters, owners and dollar figures.
Problem
You're mid-acquisition and can't evaluate the target's IT.
What we do
A focused IT due-diligence in days, not months.
Problem
The board is asking about cyber-risk and you don't have answers.
What we do
A board-ready risk register and improvement plan.
Engagement types
Strategy work, sized to the question.
vCIO retainer
- Quarterly business reviews (QBR)
- Annual roadmap and capital-budget plan
- Vendor and contract review
- Board / leadership reporting
Project advisory
- Software / vendor selection (RFP, scoring, contract negotiation)
- Office move / new-site IT design
- Cloud migration strategy
- M&A IT due diligence
Compliance & risk
- Cyber-insurance questionnaire support
- PIPEDA, PHIPA, SOC 2 readiness
- Risk register and treatment plan
- Policy and WISP development
Org & talent
- IT department structure design
- Hiring scorecards and interview support
- Outsource vs in-house decisions
- Run-book and SOP authorship
How we work
A predictable engagement, start to finish.
No mystery scope. No "we'll figure it out." Each step is a deliverable you can sign off on.
- 1
Discovery
We listen. Two hours, founders / leadership in the room.
- 2
Current-state diagnostic
Stack, contracts, risks and people, on one page.
- 3
Roadmap workshop
A working session. Leadership leaves with priorities.
- 4
Quarterly cadence
A standing QBR with progress, KPIs and the next 90 days.
- 5
Sit on your side
Vendor calls, board prep, hiring panels: whatever moves the plan.
Pricing, straight up
No hourly creep. No "block hour" games. No bill shock.
vCIO retainers are flat monthly fees based on cadence (monthly QBR, weekly leadership presence, or anywhere in between) and project workload. Project-only engagements (vendor selection, M&A diligence, office moves) are scoped fixed-fee. Numbers in writing after a discovery call.
In the words of clients
Real outcomes from real Canadian businesses.
“We were about to overpay enormously for a CRM we didn't need. PSS's vendor scoring put us into a much smaller tool that fit better. The retainer paid for itself in the first quarter.”
“During our acquisition our PSS vCIO turned a vague "they have IT" line in the LOI into a real risk register. We renegotiated price down meaningfully on the back of it.”
Ready to stop fighting your IT?
Book a 30-minute call. We'll listen, look at your environment honestly, and tell you exactly what we'd do, even if the answer isn't us.