YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Two years after selling his business to Avitus Group, entrepreneur John Horton has left the firm to start another venture. It’s called CIO Consulting LLC.
Horton, who formerly co-owned Layer 3 Technology, on Sept. 30 launched CIO Consulting LLC. In the September 2017 purchase deal, Horton stayed on with Aurora, Colorado-based Avitus as director of technology sales in Springfield. As part of the acquisition, Horton said he had a two-year contract with Avitus, which chose not to renew the deal when it ended on Sept. 30. An employee who answered the phone this morning at the Avitus Group said Ryan McCoy, Horton’s former business partner at Layer 3, also is no longer with the company.
Operating out of the Efactory downtown at 405 N. Jefferson Ave., Ste. 1007, Horton is the sole employee for CIO Consulting, which fills chief information officer and chief technology officer roles for businesses.
“Most organizations really don’t have it in Springfield,” Horton said of the CIO and CTO positions. “I’m really looking for those companies that have an IT department but they really don’t have the chief information officer, the director of IT role. Then I can help manage their IT staff on a fractional basis.”
Horton said he brings experience from Avitus and Layer 3 working with clients in multiple industries. He’s targeting a client portfolio of three to four businesses.
“Midsize companies that have a CIO, they see a lot of turnover because they ultimately get bored,” he said. “I’m not going to get bored because I’m going to be doing it for multiple organizations.”
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