Fractional CTO Retainer
A fractional CTO is an experienced technology executive who works with your organization part of the time, carrying the same judgment a full-time hire would bring. It suits organizations that need that judgment on an ongoing basis but do not have a full-time volume of senior work to justify hiring for it. Datarex's version of that arrangement is the Fractional CTO Retainer: continued senior judgment, month to month.
Strategy + Advisory
What the Retainer Involves
Sometimes called CTO as a service, the retainer is standing senior judgment, month to month, with a minimum of one day a week. It is a part-time schedule for the work a full-time technology executive would do.
What a Fractional CTO Does
The retainer covers the same kinds of decisions and work as our fixed-scope advisory engagements, on an ongoing basis instead of once.
Software & Systems Audits
A comprehensive review of what you're running, what it costs, and where the risks are. Applications, infrastructure, contracts, and the processes that hold them together.
Vendor Selection
Requirements, shortlists, and evaluation against what you actually need. We sit on your side of the table.
Technology Roadmaps
A sequenced plan for where your systems should go and in what order, tied to budget and capacity rather than wishful thinking.
Staffing Strategy
What to hire, what to contract, and what to outsource. The right mix for your size, not a bigger org chart.
Data Strategy
Where your data lives, how it moves, and how to make it useful. From reporting foundations to warehouse planning.
Security & Compliance Review
Where sensitive data lives, who can reach it, and what PHIPA and your other obligations actually require. You get the gaps named and a remediation list in priority order.
Fractional vs Full-Time
A full-time senior developer or technology executive in Ontario is a six-figure commitment before benefits, recruiting and management time, and most organizations we work with do not have a full-time volume of senior work. A retainer gives you the judgment for the hours the work needs, and it can scale up, scale down or end without a termination process.
| Full-time hire | Fractional CTO retainer | |
|---|---|---|
| Commitment | One person, hired for the role | A monthly retainer, with a minimum of one day a week |
| Cost shape | A six-figure commitment before benefits, recruiting and management time | Sized to the hours the work actually needs |
| Ramp | Recruiting before the role is contributing | Starts at the scope you need and scales up or down |
| Exit | A termination process | Ends without one |
When an organization genuinely needs a full-time hire, we say so. Working out that mix is part of our staffing strategy work.
When It Makes Sense
- No one senior is responsible for technology decisions, or for the standards and ownership that outlast one person.
- Vendor and platform decisions come up before anyone is available to review them.
- You have a roadmap, or need one, but no one senior enough to keep it sequenced against budget and capacity.
- Security and compliance obligations need periodic review as regulations and systems change.
- You are weighing whether to hire, contract or outsource, and want that judgment before committing to headcount.
Most of our work is with nonprofits and social service organizations, where budgets are set annually and grant by grant. Retainer engagements are scoped so an executive director or a board can approve them. Datarex is based in Ontario and works with organizations across Ontario, the rest of Canada and further afield; being in Ontario matters most when PHIPA or another Ontario-specific obligation applies.
How It Is Priced
The retainer runs on a monthly fee, with a minimum of one day a week. Datarex does not publish rates, because the figure depends on scope. You get the shape before you ask, and a written proposal with the number in it before any work starts.
If what you need is a single piece of work rather than a standing arrangement, a software audit, a vendor selection, a technology roadmap or a security and compliance review is fixed in scope and priced as its own proposal. You do not have to take the retainer to get any of it.