Steps To Determine The Need For A Virtual CTO

With today’s evolving competition, businesses are shifting their attention to modern technologies to pace up, including adding a virtual CTO to their ranks.

But putting together a coherent virtual CTO capable of contributing to your business is difficult. You need to plan a lot, and the entire process of determining the need for a virtual CTO can’t be done in a day. 

However, if you follow a structured approach to assess the condition, you are more likely to have a better and more successful outcome. Therefore, this article will look at the steps to determine the need for a virtual CTO. 

What Is A Virtual CTO?

The pandemic has forced companies to digitize their operations for the past two years. Unfortunately, many businesses were unprepared for this change and scrambled to adapt their processes. One of the key ways that companies can ensure a successful transition into the digital age is by working with experts who can help them digitize their strategies and operations. 

Here’s where hiring a virtual CTO comes in handy. They can lead your team in implementing cutting-edge digital tech and ensure that you have a scalable infrastructure and a solid growth strategy. This way, you can ensure that your investment will pay off in the long run. 

However, technologies by themselves are not enough to change your company- you need employees who comprehend how to make the technology help your objectives. This is what a virtual CTO does- and they can do it all from a distance. 

What Are The Responsibilities Of A Virtual CTO?

The CTO is the bridge between tech and business. They have a deep understanding of technical and leadership skills, and they use this knowledge to guide the company to its goals in the most efficient way possible.

CTOs need an entrepreneurial mindset to succeed; they need to think outside the box and create creative solutions to problems.

The responsibilities of a CTO vary greatly based on the size and goals of a startup. However, those are the most common tasks completed by a CTO: 

1. CTO is usually the one who creates architecture. The more complex the IT product is, the more effort is put into the architecture planning. 
2. CTO takes responsibility for creating tech strategy for the company. It includes budget planning, duties, goals, etc.
3. A roadmap is created and shared by CTO, so the developers can start working on the product. 
4. CTOs should always stay up-to-date with the trends to make the most efficient decisions. They are the ones who know what technology will be suitable and what is better to be avoided. 
5. A CTO should create or support collaboration with a common purpose, check whether the roadmap is followed and optimize the work if necessary. 

Steps To Analyze The Need For Hiring A Virtual CTO 

Well, we all know that a technical partner is essential to the success of any venture. But unfortunately, finding a co-founder with the necessary technical expertise can be difficult. The best way to find a technical partner is to look for someone experienced in the specific area you need help with.

Let’s start with understanding what CTO is for startups and companies. And why do they need CTO as a service?

👉 CTO For Startup 

One of the most crucial moments for a startup is when it starts to scale. Out of three reasons why startups fail, one is not hiring the right CTO. At this starting stage, non-technical founders need a CTO who knows how the development process works. Also, at the early stage of a new company, what is needed most is organizing work and knowledge to manage people. 

As per the needs, we can categorize the CTO needs for a startup in three ways; 

1. Business 

• Risk analysis 
• For development and infrastructure cost planning, 
• Finding possible solutions through research 

2. Technology 

• Risk management 
• Developing technical designs and layouts 
• Educating about tech stack and choosing the relevant platforms 
• Restructuring development channels 

3. Teamwork And Office Culture 

• Ensuring a high-quality development process 
• Practice best practices for culture and people 
• Designing a recruitment strategy 

👉 CTO For Established Companies

Companies usually don’t need to hire a Virtual CTO. Still, they might if the company is growing too fast and getting overwhelmed by responsibilities or if they don’t have an experienced technical partner.

Sometimes technical needs can be trickier than what you imagine and in that case, hiring an expert technical leader becomes a necessity. 

1. Business

• For success measuring and revising all measurements
• Assistance to stakeholders and customers
• Optimizing the business vision and strategy
• Evaluate time-consuming processes

2. Technology 

• Quality assurance
• Checking service reliability for sites and apps
• Technology up-gradation and planning
• Process evaluation
• Security and architecture check

3. Teamwork And Office Culture 

• Help with recruitment
• Performance evaluation
• Managing workforce