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CIO or CTO: Which one does your startup need?

 

Many startups conflate or confuse two key technology-based roles: chief information officer and chief technology officer.
Many startups conflate or confuse two key technology-based roles: chief information officer and chief technology officer.

As advanced enterprise hardware and software solutions progress, business and technology become further entwined. Few understand this better than startup founders, many of whom lead the companies driving this trend. However, this technological awareness doesn’t necessarily translate internally, especially when it comes to hiring and recruitment. The often jumbled search for key technical stakeholders encapsulates this issue.

According to TechRepublic, many burgeoning firms conflate or confuse two key technology-based roles: chief information officer and chief technology officer. While there is some overlap in the skills among these leaders, each performs wholly unique duties that benefit the organization in drastically different ways.

Understanding the CIO
All of the enterprise technology that supports day-to-day operations falls under the purview of the CIO, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. These leaders manage all onsite hardware and software, facilitating essential maintenance and user support activities. Additionally, most work with fellow C-level contributors to align IT operations with overarching business goals to promote scalability and boost profit margins. CIOs might also oversee the collection and application of system performance metrics for organizations that have embraced big data.

In the U.S., CIOs make an average of $151,562 per year, with some earning salaries as high as $230,000, according to data from PayScale.

“While the CIO directs internal IT activities, the CTO works to produce digital products for external consumption.”

Understanding the CTO
While the CIO directs internal IT activities, the CTO works with engineering teams to produce digital products for external consumption, according to SHRM. Consequently, these leaders spend most of their time architecting hardware and software, as well as working with stakeholders in the other departments to properly package and promote the assets they design. CTOs normally wield considerably influence within the organization as their activities correlate directly to overall profitability.

CTOs make roughly the same amount as their internal counterparts, according to PayScale.

Startups looking to fill one or both of these positions with transformative talent must take these details into consideration when evaluating potential candidates. Of course, in situations like this, going it alone is not the best option. Executive search firms can help growing enterprises find the technological leaders they need to move forward, providing well-connected executive search consultants who know the space and can find the RIGHT professionals for these roles.

Is your startup interested in taking this collaborative route? Connect with YES Partners today. To see some of the roles we have already successfully placed, click here.

Finding people is easy, but finding the RIGHT people is not. YES Partners helps companies FIND the right people for all company functions, across many industries.

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