Ragsdale Technology Advisory

Strategy & scale

Ongoing Technology Advisory

Senior technology judgment without the full-time headcount.

Ongoing guidance for a business needing an experienced technology decision-maker but not a full-time executive.

from $950/mo

3-month minimum on every tier

25+ years

Led by a platform and systems-integration leader with 25+ years of enterprise technology experience — now applied to growth-stage businesses at a fraction of enterprise cost and timeline.

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

Recognize
this?

When technology decisions have no owner, they land on yours.

If one of these sounds familiar, that's what Ongoing Technology Advisory is built for.

  1. You're asked to approve software, contracts, and vendor changes with no one to check the recommendation against.

  2. Your agency or vendor recommends a solution, and you can't tell whether it fits your business or their catalog.

  3. Every new tool adds complexity, and no one is responsible for how it all fits together as you grow.

  4. You need senior technology judgment on call, but a full-time technology executive isn't justified yet.

Before you commit

What you can count on before you pay

Founder experience

  • Enterprise platform work across eCommerce, content management, CRM and marketing automation, product data, and customer portals
  • Experience leading distributed onshore and offshore delivery teams
  • Vendor-independent recommendations (we are not paid to push a stack)

Learn more about RTA on the About page

What you get in writing

  • Tier, monthly rate, and cadence confirmed in writing
  • A written monthly note of decisions and open questions
  • Three-month initial commitment on every tier, then month-to-month with written notice
  • Your $295 Clarity credit applies when you start within 30 days

Sample deliverable

Monthly decision note: month 2

Each month you receive a short written note of what was decided and what is still open.

  • Monthly decision note
  • Decisions recorded
  • Open questions
  • Next-month agenda

When this fits

Choose this when the problem matches the scope.

Monthly advisory engagement; initial three-month commitment

Remote advisory cadence; serving businesses nationwide across the United States

  1. Technology decisions keep landing on the owner or ops leader by default

  2. Complexity is growing faster than internal technology leadership capacity

  3. Vendors, projects, and priorities need experienced oversight on a recurring basis

  4. You need fractional technology leadership—not another tool or agency retainer

Choose a tier

Three ways to keep a senior technology lead on call

Advisory is available in three monthly tiers — Essentials $950, Standard $2,500, and Leadership $4,500 — each with a three-month initial commitment. Starting investment is $2,850, $7,500, or $13,500 depending on the tier. The right tier is confirmed in writing after a scoping call based on cadence, complexity, and decision volume.

Essentials

$950/mo

$2,850 to start

  • Cadence: One 60-minute leadership session a month
  • Response: Async answers within 3 business days
  • Up to 2 vendor or tool decisions reviewed a month
  • Monthly decision note

Best for: Owner-led businesses with a settled system stack who need a senior second opinion before they spend.

Discuss Essentials

Most common fit

Standard

$2,500/mo

$7,500 to start

  • Cadence: Biweekly leadership session
  • Response: Async answers within 2 business days
  • Oversight of active vendors and projects
  • Quarterly technology roadmap review

Best for: Growing teams running several tools, vendors, or projects at once.

Discuss Standard

Leadership

$4,500/mo

$13,500 to start

  • Cadence: Weekly session
  • Response: Next-business-day answers
  • Fractional technology lead who owns the roadmap
  • Vendor management, budget input, and coordination of implementation partners
  • Can join leadership meetings

Best for: Businesses where technology is central to growth but a full-time CTO isn't justified.

Discuss Leadership

Outcomes

What success looks like.

  • Executive technology perspective sized to the business

  • Independent guidance for important technology decisions

  • Better-connected strategy, systems, and execution over time

Deliverables

What you get every month

  • Ongoing technology decision support aligned to business priorities
  • Vendor and platform evaluation with vendor-independent recommendations
  • Architecture and initiative guidance across systems, automation, and builds
  • Regular leadership cadence so technology stays connected to operations and growth

Commitment

Monthly advisory engagement; initial three-month commitment

Format

Remote advisory cadence; serving businesses nationwide across the United States

Our Process

A simple, focused process.

  1. Establish advisory scope, business priorities, and communication cadence

  2. Review active systems, initiatives, vendors, and decision queue

  3. Provide ongoing guidance on priorities, tradeoffs, and execution direction

  4. Adjust focus as the business grows and complexity changes

Scope & fit

Included, not included, and ideal fit

Ideal for

  • Growing businesses between DIY technology management and a full-time CTO
  • Operators who need ongoing decision support, vendor evaluation, and architecture guidance
  • Leadership teams that want independent technology judgment sized to the business

Not the right fit if

  • Help-desk support or daily ticket triage — we do not run a support desk.

  • Staff augmentation without strategic decision responsibility — Advisory is leadership judgment, not extra hands for tickets.

  • Short one-off questions better suited to a Clarity Session

    Consider instead: Technology Clarity Session

Not quite right?

Compare nearby options

If this engagement is close but not exact, these neighbors are the usual alternatives.

Systems and Automation Assessment

An Assessment is a one-time diagnosis with a written roadmap. Advisory is a standing senior technology lead who owns decisions month after month.

View Systems and Automation Assessment

Implementation Program

Advisory provides judgment and direction. Implementation is scoped and priced separately, and Advisory clients can add a Sprint, Build, or Program when execution is needed.

View Implementation Program

Technology Clarity Session

Choose a Clarity Session for a single decision. Choose Essentials when those decisions keep coming every month.

View Technology Clarity Session

FAQ

Questions about Ongoing Technology Advisory

How is this different from an hourly fractional CTO?

It is fractional technology leadership, priced by cadence instead of hours. Scope is decision leadership and vendor-independent judgment—not a set number of “hours on call,” not help desk, and not a body shop. You pay for outcomes and clarity, not billable minutes. We stay independent of vendors we evaluate.

What's the difference between Essentials, Standard, and Leadership?

Essentials ($950/mo) is one monthly session and light decision review. Standard ($2,500/mo) is a biweekly cadence with active vendor and project oversight. Leadership ($4,500/mo) is a weekly fractional technology lead who can join leadership meetings. Every tier has a three-month minimum.

What does a typical month look like?

It depends on the tier. Essentials is one 60-minute session plus async answers within three business days. Standard is biweekly sessions with two-business-day async response. Leadership is weekly sessions with next-business-day answers. Every tier includes a short monthly note of decisions made and open questions. Exact cadence is confirmed in your scoping call.

What happens after month three, and how do I cancel?

After the initial three months, Advisory continues month-to-month. You can cancel with written notice before the next billing period. During the three-month commitment, cancellation is not available in the billing portal; contact us if circumstances change and we will work in good faith.

Does advisory include implementation?

Advisory focuses on judgment, direction, and leadership. Contained implementation may be scoped separately through a Sprint or Implementation Program when execution support is needed.

Does the $295 Clarity Session credit apply?

Yes. Your $295 Clarity Session fee is credited in full toward any project of $750 or more — including the first month of Ongoing Technology Advisory — when you start within 30 days. One credit per email address.

How do we start and pay?

Book a scoping call. We confirm the tier, monthly rate, and cadence in writing, then you pay via Stripe subscription (three-month commitment first). Card data is handled by Stripe—never by our servers.

Next on the ladder

Where this engagement often leads

Systems and Automation Assessment

$2,500–$5,000

A structured review of technology, workflows, vendors, and operational bottlenecks with a practical 90-day roadmap.

View details

Implementation Program

$5,000–$15,000+

A fixed-scope program implementing priorities from an assessment or approved roadmap.

View details

Service ladder

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