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I came across a very insightful article describing the role of a Chief Technology Officer. Some of the key points include:
- The CTO should not manage developers
- A CTO should not manage a hardware team or an infrastructure group
- The Chief Technology Officer matches new technological capabilities with business needs
- The CTO is not an advocate, but a strategic planner and thinker
- The CTO needs to understand the abstract potential that a new technology might offer, and must know the underlying architecture of the firm’s business processes
- The CTO must have a high degree of professional integrity
I’m borrowing the title from a great article I stumbled across by Lance Glasser. The article is a must read for CTOs of high tech companies. I wasn’t familiar with his work but he is obviously a very bright guy. In summary, he believes that CTOs need to fulfill a number of roles:
1) Ensure the company has the best technology.
2) Create business options and opportunities for the organization.
3) Be the public face of technology for the company.
4) Play a role in the corporate strategic thinking.
I’m delighted to read an article about CTO duties that is isn’t just a basic job description. Well done!
I still don’t know exactly how to define what a CTO does — and I am one. It’s one of those techie titles that means different things to different people. Some people think that a CTO is the head tech guy within an organization. He is the wizard behind the curtain. Others look at him as the futurist that always understands the pulse of the technology ecosystem.
CTOs are dangerous. They generally like change. They are a fast moving part in a slow moving system. They take risks because failing is better than succeeding poorly.
They have more technology smarts than most people in an organization. But those smarts can also be a weakness. Ego can create divisions and resentment. People want to be lead and not driven.
Some parts move faster in an analog clock than others. But all parts have to follow the same beat, the same rhythm. Sometimes CTOs want to beat their own drum and lead the organization in a direction it doesn’t want to go.
I read an interesting article this week in CIO.com about unhealthy CTO roles: CTO: A Dangerous Title. The article is definitely worth a read. The one negative is that it doesn’t tell me what a healthy CTO should be doing in an organization.
