Virtual CIOs: A Growing Trend In Managed Services?

VARs and MSPs often refer to themselves as Trusted Advisors. But increasingly, the term Virtual CIO seems to be entering the conversation as well. The latest example: HEIT, a managed services provider and cloud services provider, has launched a Virtual CIO (vCIO) group for customers in the financial vertical. Is this the start of a larger trend?

The vCIO group is “intended to serve as an extension of the community bank or credit union’s own staff and leadership team,” according to a statement from HEIT. The vCIO team will assist clients in strategic technology planning, providing guidance through audits and exams, and participating in IT Steering Committee meetings, board presentations and budgeting sessions, HEIT added.

The vCIO group is led by Dan Barbattini, a 15-year veteran of IT organizations who was previously CIO for a $1.3 billion bank. HEIT has made additional executive appointments, including Paul Reymann as chief risk officer and Brad Jones as the midwest region’s business development director.

Also of interest: HEIT is starting to play up its cloud expertise more and more, describing itself as a “national provider of Technology and Risk Management and Cloud Services.” HEIT is among a handful of companies that qualified for both the MSPmentor 100 and the Talkin’ Cloud 50, which track the top channel partners in managed services and cloud services, respectively.

But back to the story at hand — branding around virtual CIO services. The virtual CIO theme was loud and clear during the recent TruMethods Schnizzfest conference in Philadelphia, where many MSPs described their services as virtual CIO engagements with SMB customers.

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