The role of a Chief Technology Officer

In a world where, technological updates and inventions happens on a daily basis, the need is to quickly adapt on a regular basis. Lagging behind is not an option and most of the onus lies now on the CTO of a company to ensure that the workforce and resources are technologically sound. Hence, the job of a CTO becomes quite burdensome and the most important aspect of his job profile involves ensuring the workforce is knowledgeable and match the current industry standards.

According to Wikipedia

A chief technical officer or chief technology officer (abbreviated as CTO) is an executive position whose holder is focused on scientific and technical issues within an organization. Essentially, a CTO is responsible for the transformation of capital – be it monetary, intellectual, or political – into technology in furtherance of the company’s objectives.

The CTO is supposed to be:

A Big Thinker – The CTOs spend their time evaluating how technology can be used internally to developed new business models and business lines, and how to preempt competitor’s attempts to use technology to disrupt the markets.

Operations Manager – This pattern is usually found in dot.com and other technology-oriented companies where information technology is key ingredient in implementing business strategy. The CTO is responsible for determining how technology can be used to implement the business strategy.

Infrastructure Manager – In companies where the role of the CIO becomes too complex, the CTO takes on the responsibilities for infrastructure and IT operations: data center operations, network operations, application development and maintenance, security, and other line functions.
Technologist who meets client and organisational requirements – We see this model often in companies where technology is used to provide products and services to customers and partners; the CTO is the intermediary between clients and internal development and the main influencer in the development of the product portfolio.
Being adept to the above mentioned 4 points is only possible if the CTO is technically sound and constantly keeps shuffling and updating his workforce. And at times it becomes impossible to bring in changes due to time and financial constraints.

What is the solution?

How does a CTO keep up to the changing times?
One of the simple answers is consulting. On a broader perspective, implementing staff augmentation and contract hiring are methods that CTO widely use. They might seem unconventional but of late bot these methods have garnered amazing results.
On the other hand consulting provides in-depth technical knowledge in areas where expertise is required. Experts can also be hired on for providing technical finesse apart from just consulting them. This opens up all horizons and the CTO is able to handle his portfolios in a better manner.

If such services are not taken up, the CTO might:

• Lose out on clients who feel the firm is not technically capable.
• Lose out on projects which require immediate attention and capable staff.
• Lag behind in technical expertise.
• Not keep up with the changing times which might see the company’s downfall.

It is impossible to stay updated on all the topics for a CTO and to expect the HR to hire staff on a priority basis. Flexibility is the key word and consulting and hiring outsourcing is the way to go!

Give up on you pre-notioned beliefs, erase your fears and accept the change. Be Flexible!