Fractional CISO / Part-Time CISO services
Fractional CISO leadership without a full-time hire
Give your security program an executive owner on an agreed part-time basis. Infinity Cyber Advisors (ICA) helps growing and mid-market organizations set program priorities, oversee execution, and bring security decisions to leadership.
MIS
CISSP
CHISL
CPHIMS
CDH-E
Will Long Sr. · Founder
MIS · CHISL · CDH-E · CISSP · CPHIMS
Nearly 40 years in IT & cybersecurity
Former VP & CISO, Children’s Health System of Texas
Tim Pelikan · Co-Founder
Credential details pending confirmation
30 years in cybersecurity & data risk
Interviews & industry conversations
Coffee With Closers
Cybersecurity With Discern
“ICA provides distinctive security professionals who excel at building strong client relationships, demonstrate exceptional organization, and deliver practical, risk-based consulting recommendations to our clients.”
Michael Cox, CIPP/US
Chief Privacy Consultant & Founder, SoCal Privacy Consultants
Partner endorsement of ICA’s advisory work
When the program needs someone to own the next decision
Your IT team may be delivering projects while security priorities compete for attention. A vendor needs direction. A remediation task is waiting on funding. The board wants to understand progress, but reports describe activity rather than decisions.
For a CEO or CIO, those gaps can signal a need for recurring executive ownership. A Fractional CISO takes responsibility for agreed program priorities and follows their execution across teams and providers. You define the role around the leadership work your organization needs, with coverage that fits a part-time engagement.
Put executive ownership into everyday program work
Priorities that reflect business exposure
ICA helps organize proposed security work into a program plan. Review priorities against business goals, available resources, and dependencies. Identify what should move forward and which tradeoffs need an executive decision.
Governance that follows decisions through
Establish a recurring governance cadence with the right participants. Review progress, resolve unclear ownership, and bring blocked work to the appropriate sponsor. Keep decisions connected to the people responsible for carrying them out.
Board reporting with a clear decision agenda
Translate program progress and unresolved risk into reporting for executives and the board. Explain what has changed, where work is behind plan, and which funding or risk decisions require leadership attention.
Vendor oversight within your program
Review provider commitments and progress against agreed security priorities. Coordinate with internal owners when responsibilities cross organizational boundaries. Escalate gaps in delivery or accountability through the agreed reporting relationship.
Outputs you can use between leadership reviews
Agree the deliverables before the engagement begins. Typical outputs include:
A program plan identifying priorities, accountable owners, and dependencies.
A governance cadence with participants, decision topics, and follow-up responsibilities.
Board and executive reporting on progress, unresolved risk, and decisions needed.
Vendor-oversight records documenting commitments, open issues, and next actions.
These materials should support ongoing management. A plan gives teams a shared reference; reporting helps sponsors decide when to fund work, change priorities, or address a blocker. The engagement defines which outputs ICA maintains and how often they are reviewed.
Define the role before assigning the workload
Start with your business objectives, current security ownership, and the decisions that are falling between roles. Identify an executive sponsor and review available plans, reports, and provider responsibilities to establish a practical starting point.
Then agree the responsibilities ICA will own, decision authority, hours, coverage, and availability. Establish the reporting relationship and meeting cadence. Clarify escalation arrangements for matters outside the agreed remit. As priorities or workloads change, revisit the scope rather than assuming the part-time role expands automatically.
A working relationship with your leadership team
This service fits growing and mid-market organizations whose CEOs or CIOs need embedded security leadership without committing to a full-time executive role. It is especially relevant when internal teams and providers can execute work but need coordinated priorities and oversight.
ICA supplies leadership within the agreed remit. Your organization provides access to relevant information, makes participating teams available, and assigns resources to implementation. Business decisions and risk acceptance remain with the client authorities identified in the agreement.
Keep leadership coverage and operational delivery clear
Availability follows the working agreement; a fractional engagement does not provide automatic full-time or 24-hour coverage. Continuous monitoring and incident-response services require separate arrangements. Engineering implementation, technical testing, and standalone assessments are separately scoped. Leadership support does not issue legal opinions, independent audit opinions, or certifications.
FAQ
Questions about Fractional CISO leadership
How does this relate to vCISO services?
The terms overlap. Here, Fractional CISO emphasizes embedded, part-time ownership and execution oversight; vCISO can emphasize recurring executive advice. The engagement defines the responsibilities, rather than the title alone.
Who approves spending and accepts risk?
Agree those authorities explicitly. ICA can guide priorities and oversee work within its remit. Your agreement identifies decisions reserved for executives, including budget commitments and business risk acceptance.
Can we start with an existing security plan?
An existing plan can be the starting point. Review its priorities, assigned owners, and progress to decide what remains relevant. Agree any revisions and ongoing oversight as part of the engagement.
How much availability should we plan for?
Scope availability around the decisions, meetings, and workstreams requiring executive attention. Agree coverage and escalation expectations before work begins. Additional demands require a scope discussion.
Can reporting serve both the CIO and the board?
Define both audiences during scoping. Operational leadership may need dependencies and delivery issues; board reporting should focus on business exposure, progress, and decisions. Agree the formats and reporting cadence.
How are fees and engagement length determined?
Fees and duration depend on responsibilities, hours, and program needs. The recurring agreement should establish the term and review points so both parties can revisit fit as the program develops.
Give your program a defined executive owner
Discuss where security leadership is needed in your organization. Build the conversation around the priorities to own, the decisions to oversee, and the part-time coverage your team requires.