# Fractional IT manager: the IT lead SMEs don't hire

> In Italy only one company in eight with at least 10 employees has an ICT specialist on staff. In the others, IT decisions are made by whoever signs the contracts. A fractional IT manager is the missing owner, part-time.

- Published: 2026-11-14
- Who it is for: Owners and managers of SMEs and multi-site groups without an in-house IT lead
- URL: https://cloudfactory.it/en/ideas/fractional-it-manager-smes/

## What a fractional IT manager is

A fractional IT manager is an IT lead who works for several companies at once, each for the share of time it needs. Inside each company they act as an internal IT manager: they set priorities with management, run the suppliers and answer for the results.

The usual term is *fractional CIO*. A study published in 2022 in Information Systems and e-Business Management describes it as a highly experienced person who acts as CIO part-time, for several clients, often with the same authority and responsibility as a full-time CIO ([Kratzer et al., 2022](https://link.springer.com/doi/10.1007/s10257-022-00557-4)).

The difference from a supplier or a consultant is not the contract but the point of view. A supplier sells a service, a consultant delivers a project. An IT lead looks at the whole picture and decides what is needed, what can be switched off and who should do it.

## Why Italian SMEs lack this role

According to Istat, in 2024 only **12.4%** of Italian companies with at least 10 employees employed ICT specialists, against an EU average of 21%: Italy is second to last in the Union, ahead only of Romania. Among companies with fewer than 50 employees the share falls to **7.9%** ([Istat, Italian Statistical Yearbook 2025](https://www.istat.it/storage/ASI/2025/capitoli/C21.pdf)). Italy also lags in total employment: ICT specialists are 3.8% of the workforce, against an EU average of 5% ([Eunews, Eurostat data](https://www.eunews.it/2026/05/27/tecnologie-dellinformazione-e-della-comunicazione-itc-litalia-e-terzultima-nellue-per-quota-di-specialisti/)).

In companies without an IT lead, decisions still get made, one piece at a time. Accounts renews the carrier contract, an office buys licences, the software house suggests a new server. Nobody has the full picture, and costs grow without anyone ever deciding them.

A full-time lead, on the other hand, makes sense when the work fills every day. For an SME, or a group with small offices at each site, that is often not the case: what is needed is someone who decides and coordinates, not someone at a desk eight hours a day.

## What they do in practice

The work varies from company to company, but the sequence is almost always this:

1. **Inventory.** Contracts with carriers and suppliers, licences, servers, domains, accounts, lines and SIMs, warranties. It is often the first time everything ends up in a single list.
2. **Suppliers.** Carriers, software houses, cloud and hardware support all answer to one person who knows the whole picture.
3. **Security and continuity.** Backups tested with a real restore, two-factor authentication, updates, expiring warranties, UPS units.
4. **Costs.** Cloud, licence and telecom invoices read every month, with a list of what can be switched off or renegotiated.
5. **Projects.** Migrations, new software, new sites: planned with management instead of endured.
6. **Reports to management.** What has been done, what it costs, which risks remain and which decisions are needed.

The study quoted above identifies four kinds of engagement: strategic IT management, restructuring an IT function in trouble, rapid scaling of a young company and hands-on support, managing suppliers and service providers, often for about one day a week. In Italian SMEs, in our experience, the first and the last almost always go together.

> **Real case: How we work**
>
> At Cloudfactory we have done this work since 2011, today for more than 30 active companies in healthcare, engineering, tourism, finance and the public sector. For some of them we are the external IT lead in every sense, with a monthly fee and a written scope: what is included, what is done remotely, what is excluded and quoted separately.
>
> One example is a multi-site group with a turnover of about 30 million euro. On top of support and systems management, we are reviewing its licence, cloud, telecom and energy costs with automated checks on real data.
>

## Fractional, consultant, supplier: the differences

| Role | Typical duration | What it delivers | Risk to watch |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fractional IT manager | Years | Decisions and coordination of the whole | Depending on one external person |
| Consultant | One project | An analysis or a closed project | The work stops at delivery |
| Managed service provider | The length of the contract | The service it sells | Advice that matches what it sells |

The study finds that fractional CIOs usually stay for years, are better integrated into the client's organisation and are not paid on the follow-up work they generate. The *virtual CIOs* offered by managed service providers, by contrast, are often seen as account managers.

The conflict of interest deserves a clear statement, because it applies to us too: we are IT leads and service providers at the same time. That is why we prefer cloud, carrier and licence contracts and invoices to stay in the company's name, with access the company controls, and every expense we propose to come with the cheaper alternative next to it.

The risk of depending on one external person is reduced the same way: inventory, access and documentation stay with the company, and whoever comes next must be able to start from there.

## NIS2: what stays with the board

For companies in scope of NIS2, the question “who is responsible for IT” also has a legal answer. Article 23 of Italian Legislative Decree 138/2024 requires management bodies to approve how cybersecurity risks are managed, to oversee implementation and to take security training.

In FAQs updated in July 2026, the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) clarified that approval means approving the framework, such as a multi-year plan and investment guidelines, not every technical setting. It also said that top management cannot fully delegate these decisions to ICT managers or external consultants ([Diritto.it](https://www.diritto.it/?p=250966)).

An external IT lead, then, does not take responsibility away from management. They prepare the plan, carry it out and bring numbers and risks to management in a form that allows real decisions. Without someone who has the full picture, that work is hard to do.

## When you don't need one

- if the company already has an in-house IT lead with the time to do it: at most it needs support on specific projects;
- if IT comes down to a few PCs, a printer and email: a good [support service](https://cloudfactory.it/en/services/it-helpdesk-first-second-level-support/) is enough;
- if the work requires someone on site every day: it is time to hire, and the external lead can help choose the person and hand over.

A good sign that you do need one: nobody in the company can say for sure how many licences, lines and servers you are paying for, or who to call if the main server does not start tomorrow morning.

## Where to start

We usually start with the inventory. At the end the company knows what it has, what it pays and where the biggest risks are, and can decide whether to continue with us. [Write to us](https://cloudfactory.it/en/contact/) with how many sites and people you have and who supports you today: we will reply with a first assessment and a proposed scope.

## How we wrote this article

At Cloudfactory we also use artificial intelligence in our editorial work: it helps us find and cross-check sources, compare data, set up the structure and polish the language. The system we use is configured by us, with instructions, examples and procedures built around the way we write. Our team checked every source, edited the text and approved the published version. The assessments and choices are Cloudfactory's, and we answer for them.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a fractional IT manager?

An IT lead who works part-time for several companies. In each one they act as an internal lead: they set priorities with management, coordinate suppliers and answer for the results.

### How is it different from an IT consultant?

A consultant follows one project and closes the engagement at delivery. A fractional IT manager stays for years, oversees all systems and suppliers and works inside the organisation.

### How much time do they spend with a company?

It depends on size and ongoing projects. For many SMEs ordinary work is measured in days per month, with more time during migrations or when new sites open.

### Under NIS2, does responsibility move to the external lead?

No. Italian Legislative Decree 138/2024 leaves approval and oversight of security measures with the management bodies. The external lead prepares them, carries them out and reports back.

### When is it worth hiring an in-house IT lead?

When the work needs someone on site every day and a full-time person. Until then a part-time lead costs less and brings experience from several companies.

## Sources

- [Kratzer, Drechsler, Westner et al., The Fractional CIO in SMEs: conceptualization and research agenda, Information Systems and e-Business Management, 2022](https://link.springer.com/doi/10.1007/s10257-022-00557-4)
- [Istat, Italian Statistical Yearbook 2025, chapter 21: Research, innovation and information technology](https://www.istat.it/storage/ASI/2025/capitoli/C21.pdf)
- [Eunews, Italy third from bottom in the EU for share of ICT specialists (27 May 2026)](https://www.eunews.it/2026/05/27/tecnologie-dellinformazione-e-della-comunicazione-itc-litalia-e-terzultima-nellue-per-quota-di-specialisti/)
- [Diritto.it, ACN updates the NIS 2 FAQs on top management responsibilities (July 2026)](https://www.diritto.it/?p=250966)

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