B2B SaaS Cloud, Infrastructure & Fractional CTO Consulting
Cloud architecture, incident response, and fractional CTO leadership for B2B SaaS startups scaling past product-market fit. Houston-based, U.S. remote.
Stop firefighting. Build infrastructure and process that match the company you're becoming.
I'm Scott McAuley, a Houston-based, U.S.-remote fractional CTO and vCIO for B2B SaaS startups and SMBs. I give you senior technical leadership without a full-time hire: cloud architecture on Azure and AWS, SOC 2 and security foundations that pass customer and investor review, and pragmatic AI adoption. I match infrastructure and process to your stage so you scale without over-engineering or firefighting.
Common challenges
- Weekly outages as customer load grows
- No on-call rotation, runbooks, or incident process
- AWS / Azure bills growing faster than revenue
- Engineering team stuck in toil instead of shipping features
- Customer security questionnaires you can't confidently answer
Why work with me
- Rebuilt AWS architectures that went from weekly outages to zero in 6 months
- Pragmatic about velocity — I won't enterprise-ify a 10-person team
- Strong on observability, auto-scaling, IaC, and CI/CD
- Can stand in as fractional CTO during the gap before your first VP Eng
How I help
- Cloud & IT Advisory — AWS/Azure architecture, cost control, and reliability engineering.
- Fractional CTO / vCIO — Tech leadership during the gap before your first full-time exec hire.
- Cybersecurity Foundations — Pass SOC 2 and customer security reviews with confidence.
- AI & Automation Strategy — Internal automation and AI-enabled product features done responsibly.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should a SaaS startup hire a fractional CTO instead of a full-time one?
Hire fractional when you need senior technical direction but can't justify a $250K+ full-time CTO yet. I'm ideal in the gap after product-market fit, when architecture, security, and hiring decisions carry real weight but volume doesn't fill a full-time role. I lead now and help you recruit your first full-time exec when the time is right.
How do you get a SaaS company ready for SOC 2?
I start with a gap assessment against the Trust Services Criteria, then prioritize the controls that matter: access management, logging, change control, and vendor risk. I implement the technical foundations, document policies, and prepare evidence so your audit is a formality. Most teams reach readiness in a few focused months rather than a year of scrambling.
Should my SaaS startup build on Azure or AWS?
Both are excellent; the right choice depends on your team's skills, your customers' expectations, and your existing stack. AWS has the broadest service catalog and startup mindshare, while Azure often wins for enterprise buyers already in the Microsoft ecosystem. I help you pick based on real cost, hiring, and integration factors rather than hype, then architect it well.
How do you scale SaaS infrastructure without over-engineering it?
I match architecture to your actual stage. That means observability, auto-scaling, infrastructure-as-code, and CI/CD where they pay off, and deliberately skipping enterprise complexity a 10-person team doesn't need. The goal is reliability and velocity together: fewer outages, faster shipping, and a cost curve that grows slower than your revenue.
How do I prove security to investors and enterprise customers?
Investors and enterprise buyers want evidence, not promises. I build the security foundations that answer their questionnaires: documented controls, a clear incident response process, encryption and access policies, and a roadmap toward SOC 2. With that in place, security stops blocking deals and becomes a credibility asset during diligence and sales.