If your business has never used a CTO or CIO before, you might not be familiar with the differences between these two types of positions. While every company has the chance to shift roles to fit an individual, knowing the distinction helps your business start off strong with a clear idea of what to accomplish with a new tech hire.
In a TechRepublic article from 2008, Jason Hiner lists the key differences between the two positions. He shows that though both CIOs and CTOs deal with technology and IT needs, the CTO needs to be more innovative and product-focused, while the CIO is concerned with fixing business processes, addressing internal customers and managing the organization's infrastructure.
A 2010 piece from Oracle features quotes from Andy Mulholland, the CTO from Capgemini, who said that the CTO is generally more involved with larger tech concerns, and is the person who should help a business change its current approach to a problem and implement innovations faster. He described this as a change from previous business models, where the CTO had to respond to the specific demands of an executive.
"The CTO becomes the interpreter of new possibilities to the business leadership, whereas the CIO has overall responsibility for managing the IT environment," he said.
Is your business more in need of a CIO or a CTO to keep up with the times? Working with a qualified group of management consultants will help you set the right goal and find the person ideal to fill the position most appropriate for your company. Placing this person could dictate the way your higher management approaches innovation and general IT in the future.
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 and globally.
