--- title: Fractional CTO for SMEs description: "A senior with a track record on projects above €5 million, deciding with you what to build, in what order, and what isn't worth doing. €2,990/month, no lock-in." canonical: https://prodigitalkey.com/en/digital-consulting/ lang: en alternates: en: https://prodigitalkey.com/en/digital-consulting/ pt: https://prodigitalkey.com/pt/consultoria-digital/ --- [Home](/en/) › [Services](/en/digital-services/) › [B2B & Data Specialisation](/en/b2b-data/) › Digital Consulting 🧭 FRACTIONAL CTO # You Were Never Hiring a CTO. You Were Deciding Badly. A €1M–€5M company does not have a CTO. It has vendor proposals, opinions that contradict each other, and €50,000 decisions made on the strength of whoever presented best. **We give you a senior with a track record on projects above €5 million to decide with you what to build, in what order, and what is not worth doing.** [👉 Talk to the Senior Who Decides](/en/digital-diagnostic/?tipo=escalar) [See Format and Pricing](#formato) +€5M the size of the projects the person advising you has already run –45% cost vs. the salary of a full-time in-house CTO Credited if the recommendation is to build with us, the consulting comes off the project Monthly flexible contract with no mandatory minimum commitment ⚖️ THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST, SETTLED ## We Build Too. That Is Why This Is Written Down. Anyone who advises you and sells you the work has a problem, and it is not solved by promising impartiality more loudly. It is solved with rules that cost money to whoever writes them. ### The credit rule - If the recommendation is to **build**, and you choose us to do it, **the month in which that recommendation is made comes off the project budget**. - In practice, the month you decide to build with us costs you nothing. What you pay us for is the advice that leads to _not_ doing the work. ### What it costs us - Recommending that you build stops being a sale for us — it becomes a **€2,990** discount. - Which leaves it worth our while to recommend what fits, including **building nothing**, or **choosing another supplier** when that is the one that fits. It goes in the reports, in writing, with our name on it. ## What Stays on Your Side of the Table. Clear strategy, faster decisions and no technology project started in the wrong place. 🗺 ### Quarterly Digital Roadmap Analysis of digitalisation priorities and a quarter-by-quarter action plan — focused on financial impact, not technology trends. 🧠 ### Weekly Strategy Meetings 1 hour per week with your dedicated specialist for KPI review, technology decisions and review of active project progress. 🔍 ### Proposal and Vendor Assessment Never again accept an ERP or software proposal without our technical and business opinion. We save you decisions worth tens of thousands of euros. 📊 ### Monthly Digital Maturity Report Monthly report with your company's digital maturity index, progress vs. roadmap and recommended next steps prioritised by ROI. ![Digital consulting](/images/blog/blog-consultoria-pme.webp) "It's like having a dedicated CTO for a fraction of the cost. In 6 months, we digitalised the whole operation." — CEO SaaS Startup, Lisbon [View full case study →](/en/case-studies/real-estate-subscription/) ## Who Is This Service For? ✅ Companies with €1M–€5M in revenue With enough operation that a wrong decision is expensive, and no in-house technical team to guide it. ✅ CEOs/COOs with drive but no direction Who know they need to digitalise but can't prioritise where to start. ✅ Companies after an implementation project That have already implemented a CRM or ERP but want to make sure they are making the most of it. ✅ Managers receiving many proposals And needing an independent technical filter to assess vendors and proposals with no conflict of interest. ### 💰 Consulting vs in-house CTO Monthly consulting costs **€2,990/month** (plus VAT). Compare it with the cost of a full-time CTO. Annual salary of a CTO (€)65000 Estimated annual savings €0 €65,000/year vs €35,880/year [Get a Personalised Estimate →](/en/digital-diagnostic/?tipo=escalar) ## Consulting or Subscription? They answer different situations, and the difference is one thing: who does the building. ### Monthly consulting — €2,990/month - **You already have people who build.** An in-house team, a supplier you trust, or both — what's missing is someone to decide what gets done and in what order. - **You get strategy, not deliveries.** A quarterly roadmap, a monthly maturity report, and a senior voice on the phone when the decision is expensive. - **It's neutral.** We recommend what fits your case, including when the answer is to build nothing. ### Subscription — from €2,400/month - **You don't have people who build.** Or you do, and they can't keep up with the queue of projects that never leaves the whiteboard. - **You get deliveries.** Development, design, automation and integrations, with a milestone every 2 to 5 business days depending on the plan. - **Strategy comes with it**, in the review meetings — but what you're buying is execution. If you're unsure, the **€497** Operational X-Ray answers it for you — and the fee is credited against whatever you decide to do. [See the Subscription →](/en/subscription/) ## Related Services [🤖 Intelligent Automation Automate repetitive processes and free up the team for strategic, value-adding tasks. ](/en/automation/)[📊 KPI Dashboards Visualise every business metric in a single real-time panel — no more wrestling with spreadsheets. ](/en/dashboard-analytics/)[🚀 Scale the Business Digital strategies to grow sustainably and at scale, without losing control. ](/en/scale-business/)[🔒 Cybersecurity Digital audit and protection to cut the risk of attacks, data leaks and downtime. ](/en/cybersecurity/)[🌐 Digital Ecosystems We design the complete digital architecture that ties systems, data and teams into one coherent whole. ](/en/digital-ecosystems/)[🔗 ERP & Integrations We deploy the ERP recommended during the consulting phase and connect it to the rest of your stack. ](/en/erp-integrations/) ## What Our Clients Say Real results. Real names. No fine print. DV Duarte V. Startup CEO, Lisbon ★★★★★ "I was about to invest €40,000 in a platform I didn't need. The consulting saved me from that mistake and pointed me towards an €8,000 solution that does exactly what I need. Immediate ROI." RS Raquel S. COO, Coimbra ★★★★★ "The digital roadmap they designed for us gave us total clarity. We know exactly what to implement, in what order and why. In 6 months, operational efficiency rose by 38%." MT Marco T. Founder, Viseu ★★★★★ "I had 6 tools working poorly. The consulting identified that 3 were redundant and helped us consolidate everything. We save €1,200/month on subscriptions and the team became more productive." JP Joaquim P. Family Business Director, Évora ★★★★★ "47-year-old company running on almost artisan processes — I knew I had to modernise but didn't know where to start without breaking what works. The consultancy laid out an 18-month phased roadmap that respected the company's culture. We're halfway through and margin is already up 14% without letting a single person go." [View all case studies →](/en/case-studies/) ## Frequently Asked Questions How often are consulting meetings held? › The standard format includes 2 monthly meetings of 60–90 minutes, with unlimited asynchronous support between sessions via email or Slack. For projects in a critical phase, we can increase to weekly meetings without changing the monthly fee. What deliverables do I receive in each session? › Each session produces an action document with prioritised recommendations, an updated roadmap and progress metrics. Every quarter we deliver a full strategic report with sector benchmarking and identified opportunities. Can I cancel at any time? › Yes, no lock-in. You can cancel with 30 days' notice and receive all documents and recommendations produced up to that date. More than 85% of our clients renew because they see concrete results every month. Is the consulting service suitable for small businesses? › This service makes sense from around €1M in revenue. Below that, €2,990/month for advice — with no execution included — is too heavy for what the decision is worth: a €500,000 company would be spending 7% of revenue on someone to decide, and the right answer is almost always the subscription, which brings strategy along with the execution. You also build. How is the advice impartial? › Impartiality is not asserted, it is proven. Two rules: we frequently recommend building nothing, and that is written into the reports; and if the recommendation is to build and you choose us to do it, the month in which that recommendation is made comes off the project budget. We gain nothing from selling you work you do not need — and we lose the client when they find out. ## Related Articles [![](/images/blog/blog-consultoria-pme.webp) What Monthly Digital Consulting for SMEs Is (and Isn't) Read article → ](/en/blog/monthly-digital-consulting-sme/)[![](/images/blog/caso-saas.webp) Portuguese SaaS: How We Reduced Churn from 8% to 2% Read article → ](/en/case-studies/saas-churn/) ## Sail with a Compass. One wrong technology decision can cost years of recovery. A good one can drive 30% growth in 12 months. [Book a Diagnostic Session](/en/digital-diagnostic/?tipo=escalar) [View All Services](/en/digital-services/)