Regardless of what industry you are in, every business needs a CTO these days. As technology seeps into more and more areas of our lives, code and technology are needed for all kinds of products and services. Hiring a CTO is one of the best moves you can make to future-proof your company and stay ahead of the competition. However, hiring a full-time in-house CTO can be expensive. A good solution is to hire a vCTO (virtual CTO). Here are some of the main things you need to know about hiring a vCTO.
Pros
1. Bridge Gaps
As a business owner, you might have excellent ideas about how you want to scale your business. However, you need to have the technical know-how to translate this idea into something that your technical team can move forward. A vCTO will act as a bridge between you and the technical team.
2. Develop Strategy
If you aren’t familiar with the technology, it will be hard to develop a strategy for the technical team to follow. With the vCTO in place, you will have someone who can not only direct the technical team but can develop the entire strategy you need to guide the team. With the skills that your vCTO has, you will get a much more efficient strategy. Doing this on your own, or having a developer do this is possible, but having a vCTO just makes the process that much more efficient.
3. Quality Control
When your developers have created something, you don’t want to risk giving it out to customers and giving them a poor experience. When you have cto consulting on your side, you have the power to thoroughly test the system before it’s launched. This helps ensure that you are providing your users with the best user experience possible.
4. Highly Experienced
Even if you hire a CTO full-time, it can be hard to get someone who is truly experienced and knowledgeable in your niche. Through a vCTO, you can be sure that you’re getting someone who has a broad range of experience. If you don’t get the kind of results you want, you can easily shift to someone else.
Cons
1. Onboarding Can Take Time
Technical projects are easy if you’re already in the mix and are familiar with what’s going on right from the start. However, hiring a vCTO and asking them to take the reins of a project while it’s happening can be challenging for the vCTO. You need to know how to properly onboard the vCTO to get the most value from this hire. Moreover, the vCTO also needs to know how to properly gel into a new environment.
2. Dependability
The role of a CTO requires a lot of dedication. Hiring a vCTO can be a great choice but if they aren’t available when you really need them, it can defeat the purpose of the hire. So, it’s important that you get someone who is dependable and available when you need them.
3. Communication
A vCTO might be available but you need to make sure communication with the team is easy and quick. A lot of problems that come up, especially once the project is live, need to be resolved in real-time. Making this communication possible can be challenging.
4. Time
When you’re working in remote teams where everyone is in different time zones, it can be really hard to stay in touch. Moreover, different regions have different holidays and different local events that could hinder work. If the team doesn’t get to spend the time they need together, it could limit growth.
A good CTO, whether they are virtual or in-house, is a need for every modern business. While in-house CTOs might not be affordable for every organization, vCTOs are. The only real challenge is being able to figure out a workflow that works for everyone involved in the technical processes of the company. With this sorted out, you will be well on your way to success.
