20+ years
Enterprise CIO, CISO and delivery leadership behind every recommendation
Certification-grade
Advisory built to survive an assessor, not a template pack
Decisions, not decks
Every engagement ends with an owner, a date and evidence
Fixed monthly cadence
Predictable cost, scaled up only when a project demands it
What is a fractional CIO?
A senior technology leader you share instead of hire — strategy, cyber risk, compliance and AI decisions, without a full-time executive salary.
Built for Australian businesses of 10 to 200 people.
Start with a review
A free 30-minute Technology & Risk Review. You leave with a one-page priority list — no obligation.
Then a light cadence
Most small businesses run one to two days a month, scaled up only when a project needs it.
One accountable leader
No junior bench, no handover. The person in your executive meeting is the person doing the work.
What we actually do
once we are in the room.
Cyber strategy, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, AI consulting and secure micro apps — one engagement, one accountable leader.
See how AI-ready you are, and where ISO 42001 applies.
Eight questions. One readiness heatmap, with the gaps to close first.
Dealing with a live incident right now?
Suspected breach, ransomware note, business email compromise or a notifiable data breach clock already running — say so and your enquiry is triaged ahead of the queue.
What happens in your first 90 days
with a fractional CIO.
Most consulting sites tell you what they do. This is the actual shape of a first quarter: the phases, the deliverables that land on your desk, how much of your own time it takes, and who is accountable at each step.
Orient and baseline
We map what you actually run — systems, suppliers, data, AI tools already in use — and record the current risk position. Nothing is optimised before it is measured.
What you get
- Technology, supplier and AI inventory
- Risk and value assessment of every candidate initiative
- One-page priority list for your leadership meeting
About 2 hours from you: one workshop and access to what already exists.
Your fractional CIO runs it end to end. No junior discovery team.
Decide and prioritise
The priority list becomes a decision. Cyber, compliance and AI work is sequenced against ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, with the cheap blockers fixed immediately rather than scheduled.
What you get
- ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 control map with gaps marked
- Sequenced remediation and investment plan
- Light governance: approval path, register, acceptable-use position
About 3 hours: one decision session and two short reviews.
Decisions are recorded with a named owner on your side, not left implied.
Execute and evidence
One bounded change is delivered end to end with evidence attached, so the quarter finishes with a defensible position rather than a slide deck.
What you get
- 90-day roadmap with owners and milestones
- Evidence pack ready for auditors, insurers or your board
- Operating rhythm your team can sustain without us
A monthly leadership session plus checkpoint reviews.
Ownership transfers to your team at day 90. Continuing is a choice, not a default.
Show my 90-day outline
Three questions, no email required. You get the shape of a first quarter written for a business like yours.
The investment case
before the invoice.
Most technology proposals fail at the board because nobody quantified the value first. Set six inputs and this builds the same one-page case we take into an executive meeting: capacity recovered, risk cost avoided, technology waste removed — and the funding level at which the programme still returns 3:1.
Your organisation
Modelled annual value at stake
$115,314
Across 21 people doing repeatable work at an effective $68 per hour, with $28,320 of expected incident cost sitting on the register each year.
Hours returned to the business by governed automation and better process design.
Expected annual incident cost removed by a risk-based control uplift.
Duplicate tooling, unused licences and renewals nobody owns.
Funding hurdle
$38,438
Any programme delivered under this annual figure still returns 3:1 on the modelled value. Above it, the case needs a different argument.
Effort shape
3 days / month
Indicative fractional CIO cadence for this size, exposure and compliance driver. Certification-grade evidence also unlocks contracts that screen suppliers.
Assumptions you can challenge
- — 35% of staff carry meaningful repeatable, judgement-light work.
- — Salary is loaded 25% for on-costs and spread over 1750 productive hours.
- — Only 35% of identified manual hours are counted as recovered value.
- — Control uplift is credited with avoiding 45% of expected incident cost, not all of it.
- — Vendor rationalisation recovers 12% of annual technology spend.
- — The break-even threshold applies a 3:1 return hurdle before any programme is worth funding.
This is a decision aid, not an audit or a guarantee of savings. Every figure is modelled from the inputs above and should be validated against your own baseline.
Two standards,
one operating model.
ISO 27001 secures the information system, ISO 42001 governs the AI system. Run together they share one risk register, one approval path and one evidence trail.
ISO 27001
Information risk, controls and assurance
ISO 42001
AI governance, impact and oversight
Operating model
Owners, approvals and evidence
Net benefit
Value after cost, effort and risk
The artefacts behind the advice.
Explore the three deliverables that anchor every engagement. Hover or select any element to see how we read it with your executive team.
Where each initiative actually sits
Every candidate initiative is plotted on net benefit against residual risk, so investment conversations start from evidence rather than enthusiasm.
Copilot rollout
Strong productivity case, but data over-sharing must be remediated before the licence spend is justified. Treat permissions clean-up as a precondition, not a follow-up.
AI governance and riskBook your Technology & Risk Review
Tell us what is on your plate. You get a 30-minute call and a one-page priority list.
Start with a checklist, not a sales call.
Two working documents we use on live engagements. Download either one and a senior advisor responds within one business day — only if you want the conversation.
Essential Eight Self-Assessment Checklist
Twenty-four checks across all eight mitigation strategies, ordered the way an assessor reviews them — so you know your gaps before a formal assessment.
Download the PDF AI · SME implementationSME AI Implementation Checklist
Pick the one AI use case worth doing, secure the environment it runs in, then keep the evidence — written for a business without a compliance department.
Download the PDFNSW on-site, Australia-wide remote
We work on-site with organisations in Sydney, Newcastle and on the Central Coast, and remotely with leaders across Australia.
Newcastle
NSW
Central Coast
NSW
Australia-wide
Remote delivery
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What does FORTE/CYBERx consulting cover?+
FORTE/CYBERx is a Fractional CIO practice. One accountable technology leader delivers three capabilities: cybersecurity strategy, compliance across ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, and AI consulting.
Is a fractional CIO worth it for a small business?+
For most Australian businesses between roughly 10 and 200 people, yes. You get executive-level technology judgement one or two days a month for a fraction of a permanent salary, and you only scale the cadence up when a project or audit demands it.
How much does an engagement cost?+
Pricing is consultative and scoped to the outcome, not sold as a fixed package. Engagements typically start with a small monthly cadence and expand only when there is a defined piece of work. We confirm scope and commercials in writing before anything starts.
What happens on the free Technology & Risk Review?+
A 30-minute call with a senior advisor. We work through your current technology, risk and compliance pressures and send you a one-page priority list afterwards. There is no obligation and no sales pitch.
How quickly will someone respond to my enquiry?+
A senior advisor replies within one business day. Enquiries go to the person who would run your engagement, not a call centre or junior qualifier.
Where does FORTE/CYBERx provide consulting services?+
We operate from Sydney and work on-site across Greater Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle, with remote delivery for organisations anywhere in Australia.
Do we need to buy the Platform to work with you?+
No. Consulting and Platform credits are commercially separate. Consultants use the Platform only where it materially strengthens governance, decision records or execution planning.
What happens in the first 90 days of a fractional CIO engagement?+
Days 1 to 14 baseline your systems, suppliers, data and AI tools and produce a one-page priority list. Days 15 to 45 turn that into decisions, an ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 control map, and light governance. Days 46 to 90 deliver one bounded change with an evidence pack and a 90-day roadmap your team can run.
How much of our own time does an engagement take?+
Roughly two hours in the first fortnight, about three hours through the decision phase, then a monthly leadership session. Most small businesses see one to two consulting days a month, weighted towards the first six weeks.
Can you work alongside our existing IT provider?+
Yes. A fractional CIO works above your MSP or internal IT person rather than replacing them — setting direction, prioritising spend and holding delivery to account, so your existing support keeps doing what it does well.
Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle in person — Australia-wide remotely.
Pressure-test two decisions free in the Platform.
Consulting and Platform credits remain separate. No credit card required.
Ask one question first
You do not need a brief to start. Send the single question you are stuck on — an ISO scope, an AI tool, a supplier decision — and a senior advisor answers it within one business day.
Free 30-minute review
Senior advisor replies within one business day