CIO vs CTO

Many people have asked the question, "What is the difference between a CIO and a CTO?" In general a CIO is internal facing while a CTO is external facing. And, of course, depending on the organization, various nuances can separate the roles or even cause them to exist. By “internal facing” think of the CIO as servicing “internal customers” that need technology to do their jobs. By “external facing” think of the CTO as servicing “external customers” that pay money for tech products and services.

In general, a CIO should plan, build, deliver, and support technologies that help employees do their jobs. For example; cloud services, collaboration software, internal wikis, software developer tools and resources, ticketing systems, phones and laptops, networking, data centers, etc. You get the picture. The technical day to day needs of leaders from across the business (Finance, Legal, Security, HR, and yes, the CTO as well) typically drive what the CIO works on.?

In general, a CTO should plan, build, deliver, and support technologies that can be sold to external customers. Product leaders typically drive what the CTO works on.?

In reality and in practice, there is no hard line of responsibility between a CIO and a CTO. It all depends on the needs and goals and capabilities of the organization. One thing is for certain though, both a CIO and a CTO plan, build, deliver, and support technologies. Each should be able to step into the other role if needed.

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