FRACTIONAL IT LEADERSHIP
You've outgrown "whoever is good with computers." You're not ready to hire a full-time IT director.
You're complex enough that technology decisions matter. The wrong platform costs six months of staff time, the wrong vendor costs real money, and nobody thinking strategically costs you both. Fractional IT leadership puts someone with senior experience on your side, without the full-time salary.
It's not a help desk, and it's not a project-by-project vendor relationship. It's a sustained partnership where we learn your organization, your people and your constraints, and show up as a genuine strategic partner.
- Chairing your technology steering committee
- Leading the migrationThe one that's been on the back burner for two years because nobody had the bandwidth to own it.
- Being the first callBefore your executive director signs a software contract.
- Writing the policiesThe IT policies and documentation you've never had but need.
- Kind
- Sustained strategic partnership
- Ongoing
- Retainer-based
- Defined
- Project-based, with a clear scope
- Where
- Kansas City, and remote further afield
- Technology strategyLong-term plans and roadmaps, so decisions get made before they become crises.
- Vendor managementContract negotiation, accountability, and not overpaying for things you don't need.
- Platform migrationsThe projects too important to hand to whoever has the most free time.
- Policy & governancePolicies, documentation and data governance you can operate on with confidence.
- Security & compliancePractical security and disaster recovery planning without the enterprise price tag.
- Steering & alignmentTranslating technical complexity for leadership and getting everyone pointed the same way.
For eight years Jake Fowler was Director of Campus Technology at a nonprofit arts college: a small, mission-driven institution with real infrastructure complexity and the resource constraints that come with it. He also led its move to hybrid work and learning during COVID, making fast, high-stakes decisions with incomplete information and no margin for error.
- Campus-wide ERP and student information system migration
- Network rebuildAcross twelve buildings.
- SSO and MDMImplemented from scratch.
- Technology Steering CommitteeFounded and chaired it, aligning leadership and faculty on generative AI policy, data governance and long-term capital planning.
- Disaster recovery and business continuity plans
- A technology policy library
- The IT teamRestructured and rebuilt it.
- Tenure
- 8 years
- Where
- Nonprofit arts college
- Budget
- Seven-figure annual IT budget
Small nonprofits, arts organizations and mission-driven institutions, in Kansas City and further afield for remote engagements, that are navigating real technology complexity without dedicated IT leadership.
- Reactive decisionsTechnology decisions get made as problems arise, with no long-term plan and nobody to own it.
- Staff workaroundsYour team works around systems that don't work, and nobody has time to fix them properly.
- Big contract, no confidenceYou're about to sign a major software contract and you're not sure it's the right call.
- No documentationNo IT documentation, no disaster recovery plan, or no clear owner for technology decisions.
- Lost your IT personYour IT staff or consultant left and you're not sure what to do next.
- Outgrown your setupWhat worked when you were smaller doesn't anymore, and nobody can see what comes next.
A fractional engagement starts with a conversation about where you are and what you actually need. No obligation, no sales pitch. If it's a good fit, we'll work out what it looks like together.