Dave Lane
Fractional IT Director · MSc Cyber Security
You're spending on IT.
Nobody's running it.
I act as your on-demand IT Director. I show you what is actually risky, what is wasting money, and what to fix. No jargon. No vendor agenda. Just clear decisions.
No preparation. No commitment.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Most business owners who come to me are not in crisis. They are just uncertain. And that uncertainty has been there for a while.
IT costs keep going up but you cannot say clearly what changed or why.
Your IT support company tells you everything is fine. You are not quite sure you believe them.
IT budget decisions are landing with finance or the MD — but nobody in that conversation actually understands what they are approving.
When IT comes up at board level, the conversation goes nowhere and nothing gets decided.
A client or insurer has asked about your cyber posture. You were not confident in the answer.
You have had an incident, or a near miss, and you are not certain the root cause was fixed properly.
You are about to make a significant technology change and want a second opinion from someone with no stake in the outcome.
The gap most businesses do not notice until it is expensive
IT support companies are good at keeping systems running. That is their job. But they cannot give you independent strategic advice, because they have a financial interest in the outcome.
When they recommend a product, they earn a margin. When they say everything is fine, they protect their contract. That is not dishonesty. It is just the structure of the business.
Meanwhile, IT budget decisions often end up with finance or the MD — people who have commercial judgement but no way to evaluate whether what they are approving is actually right. They are being asked to sign off on things they cannot assess.
What is missing is someone whose only job is to tell you the truth. Someone who reads your contracts, reviews your spend, and gives you an honest picture with no agenda attached.
What IT support does
- Fixes things when they break
- Manages your day-to-day systems
- Sells you products and services
What a fractional IT Director does
- Tells you whether your setup is right in the first place
- Reviews your suppliers independently and holds them to account
- Gives you honest advice with no financial stake in the outcome
The Approach
The IT Sanity & Control Layer
I do not do traditional consulting. I plug into your business as your on-demand IT Director and give you what most MDs actually want: clarity and control.
Identify
What your actual risks are. Not the ones vendors want you to worry about. The ones that could genuinely hurt the business.
Filter
The noise. The unnecessary spend. The decisions that do not need to be made yet. The recommendations that benefit the supplier more than you.
Focus
Only on what actually matters. Clear priorities. Simple actions. Decisions you can be confident about.
"You bring decisions to me. I tell you what to do, what not to do, and why. You stop guessing and start making the right calls."
What actually happens when we work together
Start with a conversation. Build from there.
Rapid Risk and Clarity Session
No preparation needed. We talk through your situation. I identify what is actually at risk and show you where money is being wasted. You leave with clarity, not a report.
What you get
- Your top 3 to 5 risks, ranked by urgency
- Immediate actions: what to do this week
- Wasted spend flagged and quantified
- A straight answer on whether ongoing advisory makes sense for you
The Decision Map
A clear, prioritised plan. What to fix first. What to leave alone. What you thought was urgent that actually is not. No jargon.
What you get
- IT decisions with a clear owner for the first time
- Supplier performance reviewed and challenged where needed
- Quick wins identified and started
- A realistic roadmap, not a wish list
Fix and Control
I work alongside your existing IT suppliers, not instead of them. I challenge bad recommendations, stop unnecessary spend, and make sure the right things get done properly.
What you get
- Suppliers held to account, not just taking your money
- Bad spend stopped before it becomes a habit
- Security gaps closed, not just noted
- IT stops being a source of worry
On-Demand IT Director
I stay in your corner. Monthly advisory, decisions on demand, board reporting in plain English.
What you get
- IT decisions made with confidence
- A trusted advisor with no agenda
- Clear board reporting on risk and spend
- Someone who tells you what the IT company will not
What this looks like in practice
Construction · London
Their IT support company had been telling them their security was fine. An independent review found significant gaps in both their infrastructure and their policies. We fixed the foundations first, then guided them through Cyber Essentials Plus certification. IT is no longer a liability in tender submissions.
Outcome: Cyber Essentials Plus certified
Architecture · London
They were paying for licences their team was not using and running systems that made remote work harder than it needed to be. We removed the waste, rebuilt their setup for a fully remote team, and ensured their drawings and client data were properly protected.
Outcome: Measurable cost reduction. 100% remote capability.
"I work with business owners where IT has quietly become their biggest problem and nobody has done anything about it. My job is to take responsibility for getting it under control."
Dave Lane, Fractional IT Director
What this is not
Not IT support
I do not manage your helpdesk or respond to user tickets. Your existing IT support company does that. I sit above it and hold them to account.
Not a vendor or reseller
I do not sell software, hardware, or managed services. I earn nothing from what you decide to buy. That is what makes the advice worth having.
Not a traditional consultant
I do not write reports you will not read. I give you clear answers and clear actions, then stay involved to make sure things actually happen.
Not locked in
No long-term contracts. Walk away at any time. Most clients stay because they do not want to go back to guessing their IT decisions.
Three things I stand behind
No long-term contracts
Every engagement is month to month. You stay because the service is useful. Not because you are locked in.
Straight talk, always
No vendor bias. No fluff. If something is not worth spending money on, I will tell you that, even if it is not what you were hoping to hear.
Wasted spend found in 30 days
If we do not identify obvious wasted IT spend within 30 days of working together, I will re-review your setup at no cost.
25 years. MSc Cyber Security. No products to sell.
I started in IT in 2000. Since then I have worked across infrastructure, security, risk management, and governance for businesses in the UK and internationally.
I hold an MSc in Cyber Security. Not a vendor certification. A postgraduate academic qualification. I also run a small business myself, so I understand commercial pressure and the decisions MDs actually face.
I am direct. I say what I think. The only thing I am paid for is the quality of the advice.
Start with one honest conversation.
I am not here to sell you something you do not need. Tell me what you are dealing with. I will tell you whether I can help.
30 minutes. No preparation. No commitment.
Independent
No contracts
Straight talk