One of my favorite parts of my job is to act as an outsourced CTO for companies. In some cases it is more of acting as lateral support for incumbent CIO/CSO types, which actually works out really well in a number of cases. In those cases I really more help to define the technical guidance for organizations. In some cases the organization is too small for a C-level and it’s more of acting as a Director of IT, in others it’s simply as a supplement to another C-level for dispute resolution. And like many CTOs I once focused on computers, servers and backbones.
But how quickly technology can redefine an organization. Take email as an example. What single piece of technology has redefined business in such a short amount of time in the history of business? Well, I can think of one: the telephone. One of the biggest changes between the IT industry when I first got out of college and now is that the telephone, after long being a part of other departments has slowly made its way into the IT departments of nearly every major company. And now that unified communication strategies play a role in most IT departments it has become a key strategic aspect of IT direction for most.
But telecommunications, computers, servers and some network gear isn’t where the role of a CTO stops. In the case of providing direction for a sales force you need to understand CRM. You need to understand ERP and the business processes that need the necessary up-to-the-minute statistics and inventory. In short, you also need to understand relational database systems and how they can be leveraged by an organization to increase productivity (keep costs down) while also increasing sales and acting as a wedge to strategically increase business.
In addition to business processes for the corporation you need to understand how to run your own department. This includes things like budgets, provisioning cycles, staffing, etc. Many CTOs try to stay involved with every facet of the organization. Most organizations have a web presence and most CTOs are involved in that in some way, no matter the size of the site. Security is always a concern, which requires some knowledge of IT security. And of course, you need patience and agility.
This is a lot for one person, so it is no surprise that a number of organizations now have multiple C-level executives in IT: CSO, CTO, CIO, CISO, etc. Some come into IT after having a number of successful ventures in other departments and others rose up through the technical ranks. Either way, they often need help and due to political pressures cannot look inward in their own organizations. This might be wrapping their heads around the technical direction, determining the validity of staffing issues, managing a merger and other hot topics.
The one thing that ends up being clear in this role is that people in high places do not typically like to ask for help. Professional groups are often comprised of competitors and it helps to have someone out there who is under non-disclosure who you can trust. Which is what makes it such a rewarding part of my job. I like to help people, especially those not accustomed to getting any help. And very much behind the scenes I like to watch as the recommendations that I provide are implemented and can often rapidly have resounding changes across an organization. It just brings a big smile to my face, so I thought I’d share.