I worked as a technical director in many businesses of different sizes. From startup companies with few employees, to international corporations with tens of branches around the World.
So you can call me the Serial CTO :)
CTO Goals
Company structures are different, business processes are different, people and culture are even more different... The goals for CTO are always the same:
Ensure guaranteed fulfillment of all business tasks using only available human and financial resources.
That is, in short, in one phrase.
What the CTO is actually doing?
The first task for any Technical Director is to select technologies and to build processes that will cover all the necessary business tasks.
The difference lies in the details and limitations:
- Time limits.
- Limited funding.
- Availability of human resources.
- Competition in a business niche.
- The balance between tactical and strategic objectives.
The next big task for the CTO is the creation and development of the technical team.
Why the technical team is important?
The technical team maintains the operability of the technological system, guarantee the fulfillment of business tasks with the proper quality on time.
Depending on the maturity of the business, the balance between tactical and strategic objectives may change. In this case, making changes into the system without stopping work processes is provided by the technical team.
