vCIO Retainer
Ongoing strategic IT leadership — monthly strategy sessions, quarterly business reviews, budget planning.
IT Support · Advisory
IT Consulting Melbourne
Vendor-neutral IT strategy from a team that also delivers. vCIO services, budget planning, cyber posture assessments, and roadmaps that survive contact with reality.
Advisory Services
IT Consulting Engagements
IT Roadmap
12-24 month IT roadmap aligned to business goals. Costs, dependencies, and prioritisation defined.
Cyber Posture Assessment
Independent review of your cyber security position against Essential Eight, ISO 27001, or NIST CSF.
M&A IT Due Diligence
Assess acquisition targets' IT and cyber posture before you write the cheque.
Vendor Selection
Independent RFP support and vendor evaluation for major IT investments.
Cyber Insurance Readiness
Ensure you meet policy requirements — and can prove it at claim time.
How It Works
How Engagements Are Structured
Fixed-fee projects. Defined deliverables, defined price. Scope creep is managed via change control, not surprise bills.
vCIO retainer. Monthly retainer for ongoing strategic input. Usually a half-day or full-day per month, plus quarterly business reviews.
Hourly engagement. For genuinely ad-hoc advisory work. Transparent time tracking, weekly reporting.
Every engagement starts with a free discovery call to align on the actual goal — before anyone bills for anything.
Book Strategy Call
Deliverables
Real Deliverables, Not PowerPoint
Every consulting engagement produces something you can act on — a roadmap, an assessment, a decision paper, a vendor recommendation. If you want theatre, hire someone else. If you want outcomes, let's talk.
No Pushy Sales
Book A Free 30-Minute Consultation
Talk to a Melbourne IT & cyber specialist about your business. No obligation, no pushy sales, no jargon — just useful advice.
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FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an IT consulting engagement look like?
It depends on the goal. A vCIO retainer provides monthly strategic input and quarterly business reviews. A one-off project (like an M&A IT due diligence or a cyber posture assessment) is scoped as a fixed-fee engagement with defined deliverables. All start with a discovery call to align on outcomes.
Do you sell what you consult?
We're vendor-neutral in consulting engagements — the advice you get is the advice that's right for your business, not the advice that generates the biggest commission for us. Where we do implement (as your MSP), that's a separate commercial conversation.
What is a vCIO?
A virtual Chief Information Officer — someone senior who provides strategic IT and cyber leadership without the cost of a full-time hire. For a Melbourne SME, this typically means monthly strategy sessions, quarterly business reviews, budget planning, vendor management, and being the escalation point for major decisions.
Can you help with an IT budget?
Yes — this is one of the highest-value things a vCIO does. We build a 12-24 month IT roadmap with cost forecasts, prioritise investments against business goals, and give you the ammunition to defend the budget to the board or leadership team.
Do you do cyber security assessments?
Yes — Essential Eight assessments, general cyber posture reviews, cyber insurance readiness reviews, and vendor cyber due diligence. Each is scoped as a defined deliverable with a clear report and roadmap.
What size businesses do you consult for?
Typically Melbourne SMEs from 20-500 staff. Below that, consulting overhead usually isn't proportionate; above that, most organisations have internal IT leadership already but sometimes engage us for specialist projects or independent second opinions.
Get In Touch
Talk To Black Lantern
Send us a message and we'll respond within 15 minutes during business hours. For urgent issues, call 1300 146 218 — we answer 24/7/365.
Response timeUnder 15 min
Available24/7/365
Office35/477 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia