As your company grows and hires more staff, enters the digital age, and becomes more global, managing an IT platform becomes more important. It is in this part that a chief technology officer (CTO) becomes a core part of your organization. Knowing the profile of a professional in this branch should be essential for you, because this way you will not fall into deception. In this article, you will find details that will help you hire a good CTO.
What is a Chief Technology Office?
A Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is a technical director of technology, responsible for actions related to the company's technological infrastructure.
Despite its extreme importance, it is not a professional found in all companies. Most of the time, the CTO is only present in IT companies.
This professional has a profile focused on technical issues, such as technology development and support, although he is sometimes confused with the CIO (Chief Information Officer), as well as a talent and people manager.
The existence of the CTO in companies from the most varied sectors, especially in the IT sector, has proven to be fundamental to the mission of obtaining the best performance from teams and guaranteeing quality products and services with updated technologies for the public.
What are the duties of a CTO?
The CTO role consists of ensuring that IT systems function optimally and correctly and working to create new products and services for the company.
In smaller organizations, where there is no specific figure for the CIO, the CTO also brings together functions related to the handling of the company's information and intellectual capital.
Thus, the CTO's mission is to transform strategic goals into reality, putting them into practice by directing the development of technological and scientific solutions in any sector of the market, avoiding technical problems in the provision of services and/or in the development of new company products.
It is important to remember that, in recent times, this has been applied in any area that requires optimizations and innovation in its practices to stay ahead of the market, contradicting the retrograde thinking that considered the CTO to be a professional necessary only in IT companies. .
What should you consider when hiring a CTO?
- Proactivity: Innovation and creativity are constant themes in the technology market, so that market reality can be transformed in a competitive way. Therefore, it is essential that the CTO be someone who is proactive and does not conform to a reality that does not favor growth. Researching, seeking new opportunities, and always being aware of updates in the technological universe are routine experiences in the life of this professional.
- Leadership: As the position involves directing teams, innovation, and implementing new practices, having a leadership profile is essential to being successful. It is necessary to be a good guide for the team since, in many cases today, the IT sector is one of the company's main sectors. Practically speaking, a professional with this profile will have the skills to identify errors, provide harmony between team relationships, stimulate talent, and give positive feedback for tasks well performed.
- Creativity: To be a successful CTO, it is important, above all, to be a creative and resourceful professional. This will make it much easier to find different solutions to problems that arise, ensuring that all tasks are completed within the required time and quality. Curiosity and the ability to adapt are positive characteristics for this role.
- Focus on security: A company's CTO knows how essential it is to adequately protect the company's and its customers' data. It is essential to focus on information security, making your systems and operations proof against the reality of intrusions and cyberattacks.
- Technical capacitation: The technical training required for a head of technology varies depending on the company's needs. The skills required for the development of web, native, or hybrid mobile systems, for example, are different. However, the requirement considered essential is knowledge of different programming languages, tools, and technological resources. Finally, it is important to have experience in the area; having participated in the development of large digital projects and knowing how to identify needs and problems will guarantee excellent performance.
Specialization of a professional CTO
A good CTO needs knowledge to perform their activities in the best way. To achieve this, the best way is to take training courses and certifications. I will suggest some of the ones that I consider to be the best.
In addition to these, you can count on other relevant certifications, which seek to guarantee the ability to provide products and services capable of meeting the needs of the company's customers, in addition to all legal requirements involved, increasing customer satisfaction and confidence in the services provided.
- ISO 27000 is a series of standards developed with the aim of providing a useful framework for information security management in companies of any size, whether private or public. This certification is useful, above all, for those who wish to expand their knowledge of the terms used in information security and prepare for ISO 27002 certification.:
- COBIT5 is the main business framework for the areas of business management and IT governance. Therefore, the COBIT5 certification is aimed precisely at IT professionals who wish to obtain knowledge related to this field. Certification related to this technology can be fundamental to the mission of improving the professional's CV and encouraging them to participate in projects to implement IT governance models in companies.
- ITIL V3 is a set of good IT management practices that brings together knowledge of great importance for a CTO. It is the broadest, most complete, and most well-accepted reference on IT management around the world. The ITIL V3 certification provides professionals with a wealth of knowledge regarding essential principles, terminologies, concepts, and structures in the area, making it a highly prestigious certification in IT management.
- PMI is an institution that has a project management certification program for IT professionals. For a CTO, it is of great importance to have a certification of this type since, in addition to demonstrating their commitment to the area, it is proof that they are able to manage software projects reliably. This certification is widely accepted in the market, as PMI follows world-class standards, which emphasize its quality and provide the CTO with a technical edge that is fundamental to good project management.
- TOGAF is, succinctly, a standard aimed at developing enterprise architectures, managed by The Open Group. To be certified in this framework, the professional must pass two exams after participating in a training course. The wide recognition and use in the world's leading companies prove the certified professional's knowledge of important concepts related to methodology and structure. This makes it an essential certification for an enterprise architect's career.
- CISSP (Certified Information Security Systems Professional) is a certification in the information security sector whose objective is to recognize the professional's level of specialization in several factors, such as access controls, encryption, operations security, and secure systems development, among others. It is essential that professionals leading software projects have solid knowledge of information security, making this certification essential for a CTO.
If you are looking to hire a good CTO, we will be happy to help!
