--- title: "Fractional CTO for SMEs and startups" description: "A fractional CTO to decide your architecture, lead your developers and suppliers, and prepare your technical hiring. Free quote within 48 hours." canonical: https://sdk.enterprises/en/fractional-cto language: en --- # Fractional CTO: a technical director, without the full-time hire. You need to choose an architecture, hire developers, assess a supplier or rescue a project that is slipping, with no technical director to make the call. We provide a fractional CTO: they make the technical decisions with you, lead the team and suppliers, and prepare the day you hire your own CTO. - Free quote within 48 hours - 8+ years of engineering experience in the team - One contract, with SDK Enterprises [Book a call](https://sdk.enterprises/en/book-a-call). [Free AI audit](https://sdk.enterprises/en/free-ai-audit). ## When a fractional CTO is the right answer - **Technical decisions with no one to make the call**: Which architecture, which hosting, which language, build or buy: choices that commit you for years. - **A supplier nobody checks**: Quotes, deadlines, code quality: without a technical eye, it is hard to know whether the work is done well. - **A team growing without a framework**: The first developers are there, but without code review or controlled releases. - **A project that is slipping**: Delays, production bugs, technical debt: it needs a diagnosis and a recovery plan. ## What your fractional CTO does - **Architecture choices**: Architecture, hosting, security, tools: decided, written down and explained to the team. - **Leading the team and suppliers**: Priorities, code reviews, delivery tracking, review of technical quotes. - **Technical hiring**: Job descriptions, technical interviews and, if needed, vetted freelancers from our network. - **A roadmap**: What to build, in which order and with which resources, presented to management and investors. ## How the engagement starts - **First conversation**: Your business, your team, your projects and what is blocking you today. - **Free quote within 48 hours**: The role, the priorities and the working rhythm, in writing. - **Diagnosis**: A review of the code, infrastructure, team and suppliers, with a written report. - **Leadership**: The CTO takes up the role at the agreed rhythm, with regular check-ins with management. ## When SMEs and startups bring one in Four situations, and what the CTO does in each. - **Launching a product**: Choose the architecture, hire or find the team, scope the first version. - **Rescuing a project**: Diagnose a late project, decide whether to fix or rebuild, and get deliveries back on track. - **Preparing a fundraise or a sale**: Technical due diligence, roadmap and answers to investors' technical questions. - **Modernizing what exists**: Move to the cloud, upgrade an old Java or PHP base, reduce production incidents. ## Full-time or fractional CTO? A full-time CTO becomes necessary when technology is your product and the team is growing. Before that, a fractional CTO covers what matters. | Question | Full-time CTO | Fractional CTO | | --- | --- | --- | | Commitment | An executive hire, often with equity. | A services contract, adjusted to your needs. | | Availability | Every day, in the team. | The time agreed together, adjusted when your needs change. | | Hiring | Often long, and risky when nobody in-house can assess candidates. | No hiring: the engagement starts once the quote is accepted. | | When to choose it | Technology is your product and the team already has several developers. | You need technical decisions and leadership, not yet a full-time role. | ## The experience behind the role Our engineers were part of the team that moved 600+ internal Crédit Agricole applications to AWS, with 50+ of those migrations delivered by SDK Enterprises. For energy-sector clients, through Sopra Steria, they led the Java 8 → 16 migration of a critical gas trading application. Neither was a CTO engagement: it is the delivery experience your fractional CTO draws on. The team has 8+ years of engineering experience. - [Moving 600+ banking applications from legacy VMs to AWS](https://sdk.enterprises/en/work/credit-agricole-cloud-migration) - [Secure platforms for energy-sector clients through Sopra Steria](https://sdk.enterprises/en/work/energy-platforms-sopra-steria) ## Questions about a fractional CTO ### What is a fractional CTO? A technical director who works for several companies, each for part of the time. They make the technical decisions and lead the team and suppliers, without being a full-time employee. ### How much time does the CTO spend with us? The time agreed together, based on your projects. It can go up during a launch or a project rescue, then come down. ### Who do we sign with? With SDK Enterprises, which stays responsible for the engagement, whether your CTO is one of our engineers or a vetted freelance specialist. ### How much does a fractional CTO cost? It depends on the time spent and the work involved. You get a free quote within 48 hours of our first conversation. ### And when we want to hire our own CTO? That is often the goal. We help you define the role, assess candidates and hand over with up-to-date documentation. ## Start from your need - [Free AI audit](https://sdk.enterprises/en/free-ai-audit): A 45-minute video call to find what AI can automate in your business, then a written summary of 3 automations or AI agents to start with. - [AI for SMEs](https://sdk.enterprises/en/ai-for-smes): AI agents and automations connected to your tools that take over repetitive work, with a person signing off where it matters. - [Technical audit and consulting](https://sdk.enterprises/en/services/consulting): Straight technical advice: architecture, AI strategy, due diligence and project rescue. - [Hire developers](https://sdk.enterprises/en/hire-talent): Vetted freelancers for your team: hire them directly or let us manage them. - [Hire software architects](https://sdk.enterprises/en/hire/software-architects): Senior freelance architects and tech leads, or an architecture review or fractional CTO from our own engineers. - [Questions to ask before hiring a software partner](https://sdk.enterprises/en/insights/choosing-a-software-partner) - [Freelancers, agency or partner: how to staff a project](https://sdk.enterprises/en/insights/freelancers-agency-or-partner) - [Modernizing a legacy application: where to start](https://sdk.enterprises/en/insights/modernising-a-legacy-application-where-to-start)