There are so many different versions of a “vCIO” in our industry that it’s easy to get confused.
Let me bring some clarity.
A vCIO is not a dressed-up account manager.
It’s one of your most technical resources who becomes your client’s trusted technology advisor. For anything related to technology, strategy, risk, and major decisions, this is the person they rely on and ask.
In smaller MSPs, this role often exists without a formal title.
It’s usually the owner stepping into these conversations.
Or a senior engineer who clients naturally gravitate toward.
But when you define the role intentionally and build a process around it, this can transform your MSP.
It's all about client retention
Reducing churn is the fastest and cheapest way for an MSP to accelerate growth.
It costs far less to keep a client than to sign a new one. Yet most MSP owners spend more time obsessing over sales than retention.
The vCIO role is key to this.
We grew our MSP to $23M organically (without acquisitions) with a single salesperson. It’s not because we’re exceptional at sales. It’s because we have high client retention. And I genuinely believe a major reason for that is our vCIO services.
Think about what happens when you reduce churn inside your MSP.
- Clients are happier.
- Happier clients lead to happier employees.
- Happier employees lead to lower employee turnover.
- Lower turnover means more consistency and stronger relationships.
- You reduce offboardings and onboardings, which are disruptive and time-consuming.
- Your resources stay focused on serving and improving existing clients.
As an MSP owner, churn is the most important metric to me, and I believe it should be to you.
What a vCIO is responsible for
In our MSP, our vCIOs are responsible for one core outcome:
Every client has a clear 3-year technology vision, roadmap, and budget.
That’s it.
The goal is to paint a future for your client’s IT that excites them and do it every year.
A strong vCIO ensures:
- Technology aligns with business goals
- Projects are planned proactively
- Risk is reduced over time
- Productivity improves
- IT spending is optimized
The 3 things every vCIO should be doing
1. Meeting With Leadership
They meet with decision-makers, not just your day-to-day point of contact (office manager or controller).
They:
- Present the 3-year roadmap
- Discuss upcoming business initiatives
- Review project proposals
- Participate in high-level planning conversations
They should be comfortable sitting at the leadership table and translating technology into business language.
2. Building 3-Year roadmaps & project proposals
In our MSP, every client gets a 3-year roadmap and budget outlining major projects.
Our vCIOs also put together project proposals for all major projects.
3. Providing guidance on projects
When a project is approved, vCIOs provide guidance and are available for any questions the team implementing the project may have.
They are not project managers. They simply protect their vision.
What a vCIO is NOT
This is where many MSPs struggle. A vCIO should not be:
- Handling ticket escalations
- Solving billing disputes
- Scheduling onsite visits
- Managing day-to-day complaints
- Reviewing helpdesk stats with operational contacts
That’s account management. If your vCIO is stuck in operations, strategy disappears. Read my post about splitting the vCIO and Account Manager roles.
Who should become a vCIO?
In our MSP, vCIOs come from our project team.
- They’ve implemented projects.
- They understand technology deeply.
- They know the clients before stepping into the role.
Most importantly, they’re the people clients naturally trust, the ones who can explain complex technology clearly.
They must have the technical credibility to advise your clients about technology.
vCIOs are not salespeople
If you want your vCIO to be a trusted advisor, remove sales incentives.
Our vCIOs are not compensated on sales.
They’re measured primarily on client retention.
When clients feel recommendations are genuine and not commission-driven, trust is built.
The 3 outcomes that guide every vCIO
1. Reduce risk
Stronger cybersecurity, better backups, improved compliance, fewer single points of failure.
2. Increase productivity
AI adoption, Microsoft 365 optimization, automation of repetitive tasks, etc.
3. Optimize costs
Planned investments, vendor consolidation, elimination of waste.
Why vCIO services are critical for MSPs
When done right, vCIO services:
- Increase client retention
- Strengthen executive relationships
- Increase efficiency by standardizing your clients
- Create a predictable project pipeline
- Elevate your MSP above competitors
If you want to grow your MSP, you need to operate at the strategic level, not just the support level.
Get started
If you’re serious about building real vCIO services inside your MSP, don’t overcomplicate it.
- Define the role.
- Protect it from operations.
- Build the 3-year roadmap process.
If you’d like a practical framework to implement this , I’ve put together a step-by-step guide you can use inside your MSP.
Simon is the President of S3 Technologies, a leading Canadian MSP he co-founded in 2003. He built and scaled the vCIO team which eventually lead to him co-founding Propel Your MSP in 2018 to help MSPs with their vCIO services.
