Technology: Asset or Liability?

Having spoken with a few hundred business owners and CEOs over the years, I have heard many opinions about technology and its relative priority in their businesses. Their business strategies tend to focus on sales, marketing, product/service delivery, and customer service. They know how to control advertising costs, marketing spend, and general operating costs, but technology is a scary black hole.

The reality is that as we near the end of 2014, technology is mission critical in every facet of a business. Each department has multiple systems they are budgeting for, using, or upgrading. Systems need to work as expected and scale when needed. Back in the day, if systems were down, the old standby paper-based processes kicked in to get the job done. But those options aren’t practical when businesses are running on limited staff.

At no fault of their own, non-technical CEOs do not have the experience to make complex technology decisions. On the finance and legal matters, they bring in a CPA or an attorney to guide them. However, on the technology side, they assign critical technology decisions to the “resident techie” that can build a web page or get corporate mail working on the CEO’s phone.

When you consider the true cost of technology, the importance of experienced technology leadership is clear. Financial statements don’t accurately reflect the cost of a failed software implementation, poor end-user adoption, or system downtime. Recovering from a data breach or other business interruptions can cost a business significant time and money.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this gap in technology leadership. While most businesses cannot afford a full-time Chief Technology Office (CTO), they still need one. So how do you get an experienced CTO at a price you can afford? The same way that businesses hire CPAs and attorneys – with a part-time and retainer-based model.

CTO Nation was launched to fill this exact need – to add technology leadership to the C-suite through a practical and affordable pricing model. We are building a network of experienced CTOs that can be part of your management team. With the right leadership, your technology strategy will drive real bottom line growth. It is time to make technology an asset instead of a liability.