IT Support vs IT Leadership
The Hidden Gap Slowing Mid-Market Growth
In many growing organisations, technology is everywhere and ownership of it is nowhere.
Systems are running. Tickets are being closed. Vendors are being paid.
Yet when senior leadership asks a simple question - “Is our technology helping or holding us back?” - the answer is often unclear.
This isn’t a failure of people or platforms. It’s usually the result of a structural gap between IT support and IT leadership. And it’s a gap that quietly slows growth across the mid-market.
Two very different IT responsibilities
Most organisations are good at one of these things:
IT Support
Keeping systems available.
Fixing issues.
Managing users, devices, access and vendors.
Responding when something breaks.
This work is essential. Without it, nothing else functions.
IT Leadership
Setting direction.
Translating business goals into technical priorities.
Owning risk, investment decisions and outcomes.
Ensuring technology enables growth rather than reacting to it.
This work is equally essential. But it’s often missing.
The problem arises when one is expected to substitute for the other.
When IT support is asked to lead
In many £5m–£50m organisations, technology responsibility evolves organically.
An MSP is brought in to keep things running.
An internal IT manager grows with the business.
A technically minded individual takes on more responsibility over time.
None of this is wrong. It’s sensible, pragmatic, and common.
But at a certain stage, the business starts asking different questions:
Which platforms should we invest in next?
What technical risks could slow our growth?
Are we overspending or underinvesting?
Is our data reliable enough to support decision-making?
Are we ready for acquisition, expansion, or regulatory scrutiny?
These are not IT support questions. They are IT leadership questions.
And when no one formally owns them, they tend to drift upward - often landing with the CFO, COO, or CEO by default.
The rise of the “accidental IT leader”
In the absence of senior IT leadership, organisations adapt.
The CFO steps in to control spend and manage vendors.
The COO tries to align systems with operations.
The CEO becomes the final decision-maker on tools, platforms and risk.
Again, this isn’t incompetence.
But it creates a situation where people are making technical decisions outside their core discipline, often without the time, context or specialist depth to do so confidently.
The result is familiar:
Projects that take longer than expected
Decisions made cautiously, or deferred altogether
Technology discussed as cost and risk, not capability
Growing frustration that “we spend more every year, but nothing feels simpler”
This is not a people problem. It’s a leadership design problem.
Where this leaves CTOs and IT leaders?
For organisations that do have senior IT professionals, this gap can still exist.
Many capable CTOs and IT leaders find themselves positioned as delivery leads rather than strategic peers. They’re responsible for execution, but not always empowered with clear ownership, commercial context, or a seat in the right conversations.
In these cases, frustration can exist on both sides:
The business wants clearer outcomes and accountability
The IT leader wants clearer direction, authority and alignment
The issue isn’t capability. It’s structure and mandate.
Strong IT leadership only works when it is clearly defined, trusted, and aligned to business outcomes.
Why this IT support vs. IT leadership matters to growth
When the gap between support and leadership persists, it shows up in subtle but costly ways:
Money spent maintaining complexity rather than reducing it
Risk accumulating quietly until it becomes visible all at once
Growth initiatives slowed by fragile systems or manual workarounds
Senior leaders spending time arbitrating technical decisions instead of leading the business
Over time, technology becomes something the organisation works around, rather than with. That’s when growth starts to feel harder than it should.
Closing the IT gap
Not every organisation needs a full-time CTO, CIO or CISO.
But every growing organisation needs clear ownership of technology outcomes, proportional to its size, ambition and risk profile.
That ownership can take different forms:
A senior internal IT leader with the right mandate
Fractional IT leadership to provide strategic direction and accountability
A clear distinction between operational support and strategic decision-making
Better alignment between finance, operations and technology functions
The key is not the job title. It’s clarity.
When someone is explicitly responsible for translating business goals into technical priorities, organisations move faster, spend more effectively, and reduce risk without becoming conservative.
If technology feels like a black box, or accountability feels blurred, it’s worth stepping back and asking yourself whether the structure you have is still fit for the business you’re becoming.
For many mid-market organisations, closing the gap between IT support and IT leadership is one of the simplest ways to unlock momentum - quietly, pragmatically, and without unnecessary disruption.
Get an impartial view with a Fixed-Fee Technology Review
If you want a clear, objective picture of how your technology is really supporting the business, our
Fixed-Fee Technology Review provides an independent assessment of:
Ownership and accountability
ROI and spend alignment
Risk and resilience
Structural gaps between support and leadership
Designed for CEOs, CFOs and COOs who want clarity, not disruption.
