Fractional CTO for small business.
Technology leadership for operations-heavy businesses, without the full-time hire. A QREW fractional CTO picks the software, automation and AI that fit, then helps your team build it.
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO is a part-time technology executive who owns your technology roadmap, software and vendor choices, data, and automation and AI priorities, without the cost of a full-time hire. A full-time CTO or CIO costs more than $150K a year even at the low end of the market.1 You get that leadership for a fraction of it.
Who's responsible for your software strategy?
Growing businesses need someone at the leadership table who knows their systems, keeps spending in check, and makes sure today's decisions still hold up a year from now.
Growth breaks your systems.
What worked at 20 people stalls at 60.
Decisions run on gut.
Simple questions take a week and a spreadsheet.
One person holds the keys.
When they leave, nobody knows how it works.
Who a fractional CTO is for (and who it isn't).
Owners and operators of 10–200 person businesses and organizations: service and field companies, manufacturers like RAMKO, environmental services firms like JLHA, testing labs, asset managers, professional and accounting firms, government offices and non-profits.
If you run on QuickBooks, spreadsheets, a CRM and too many apps that don't talk to each other, this is for you.
Venture-backed startups looking for someone to build their product. We lead technology for businesses that run on operations, not on software products.
Technology serves the business, not the other way around.
Visibility
Every system is mapped to a process, an owner and a cost.
Ownership
Data is centralized, clean, company-owned and queryable.
Strategy
Fix the hot spots first. Modernize only where it pays.
Security
Access, admin, backups and offboarding done right, with no single point of failure.
Empowerment
The people closest to the work have the data, AI and tools to build what core systems can't.
We score each pillar every year, so you see progress, not just activity.
What your fractional CTO does.
A 12-month technology roadmap
And a budget to match, so every project has a reason and a place in line.
Software selection and vendor management
CRM, accounting, ERP and field operations tools that fit how you work.
Build vs. buy decisions
Most of what you need already exists. When it doesn't, we build it with workflow automation and custom apps, and custom code is the last resort.
AI and automation priorities
Where AI actually pays off, and where it doesn't yet. Then the build, from AI connected to your apps onward.
Data and security guardrails
Access, backups and offboarding done right, and data you own in one place.
A technology voice at the table
In your leadership meetings, and leading the build team, ours or yours.
When it's time to build, the team that wrote the plan builds it.
Fractional CTO vs. fractional CIO vs. vCIO.
Three titles for overlapping jobs. Here's how they usually differ.
| Fractional CTO | Fractional CIO | vCIO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Technology strategy and what to build or buy | Internal systems and how the business runs on them | Hardware, network and helpdesk |
| Usually comes from | A technology leader or firm | A technology leader or firm | A managed IT provider, bundled with its services |
| Best for | Businesses deciding where software, data and AI should take them | Businesses whose core systems need an owner | Businesses that mainly need IT support managed |
For most small businesses, the job is a mix of the first two: own the systems you run today and plan the ones you'll need. That's the job we do.
How it starts.
- 01
Tech Strategy Diagnostic
A fixed-fee look at your systems, processes and costs. You leave with a 12-month technology roadmap and your first Quick Win, and the fee is credited toward that first project.
About the diagnostic → - 02
Your fractional CTO
An ongoing seat at your leadership table to run the roadmap, make the calls and keep spending in check.
Talk to us → - 03
Build the Quick Wins
QREW's build team ships them, or our coaches help your own team build them.
Only one process holding you back?
Start with a free workflow assessment. We'll zoom in on that one process and show you what fixing it looks like.
Results from businesses like yours.
From spreadsheets to scale.
RAMKO, a California plastic injection molder, was growing faster than its systems. QREW built a connected system of 17+ apps on a single source of truth.
From chaos to clarity.
JLHA digitized its field operations end to end with 16 custom apps, replacing paper inspections, spreadsheet sprawl and email-chain status checks.
Read the JLHA case study →"This is what happens when you stop fighting your data and start using it."
Fractional CTO FAQ
What is a fractional CTO?
It's a part-time technology executive who owns your technology roadmap, software and vendor choices, data, and automation and AI priorities. You get the leadership of a CTO without the cost of a full-time hire.
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
Less than a full-time hire. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, even a CTO or CIO at the low end of the market costs more than $150K a year once benefits are included. We scope a fractional engagement on a call, around what your business needs. The Tech Strategy Diagnostic is a fixed fee, credited toward your first Quick Win project.
Do I need a fractional CTO or a fractional CIO?
Most small businesses need a mix of both: someone to own the systems you run today and someone to plan the software, data and AI you'll need next. That combined role is what we do.
What's the difference between a vCIO and a fractional CTO?
A vCIO, or virtual CIO, usually comes bundled with a managed IT provider and focuses on hardware, networks and helpdesk. A fractional CTO focuses on strategy: which software to use, how your data fits together, where automation and AI pay off, and what to build or buy.
Will you recommend tools you don't build on?
Yes. We start from what you already run, like QuickBooks, your CRM and your field apps, and recommend what fits your business, including tools we don't build on. And if the right answer is not to buy anything, we'll tell you that.
Can a fractional CTO help us adopt AI?
Yes. We find where AI actually pays off in your business, put guardrails in place for the people already building with it, and help build the AI tools themselves, from AI assistants connected to your apps to a data foundation they can work from.
Do you work with startups?
Probably not. We lead technology for businesses and organizations that run on operations, not for venture-backed startups looking for someone to build their product.
What would your business
look like with 3,500 hours back?
30-minute working session with Austin. We walk your workflow with you, highlight opportunities, and tell you whether Done-for-You or Done-by-You is the right path. If it’s neither, we’ll say so on the call.
Sources
- Computer and information systems managers, the federal occupation that includes CTOs and CIOs: the lowest-paid 10% earned less than $107,550 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Benefits are 30.0% of total compensation for private-industry workers (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026), which puts total cost at about $154K a year.↩
- Software developers' median wage was $135,980 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). With benefits at 30.0% of total compensation, that's about $194K a year.↩
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