Obviously, your business is not a Fortune 500 company. And no one is expecting you to act like it is. But even as a one-person startup, there is a lot you can learn from enterprise-caliber organizations.
You need to take matters such as HR, bookkeeping, and marketing every bit as seriously as larger, more established companies. Because of computers and mobile devices, you can even use many of the same tools as the biggest companies in the world.
It is also because of those computers and mobile devices that you will need to adopt one of the mainstays in the corporate world: a CTO. Chief Technology Officer seems like one of those grandiose titles that people give themselves when they want to feel important.
However, it is not the title that matters, but the job itself. And even if you are a one-person operation, you need someone other than yourself to do the job of a CTO for your company. Here are 3 reasons why:
You Are Going to Need Tech Support Sooner or Later
At minimum, you have a smartphone and a laptop. Most likely, there is a desktop in the mix. For software, you have a word processor, spreadsheet, and maybe something for presentations. That only addresses a small subset of the software you installed on purpose. There is a whole category of software that you didn’t install.
That software includes all manner of viruses, malware, adware, ransomeware, root kits, and so much more. Besides the software are the man in the middle attacks, phishing scams, and countless other schemes to steal your sensitive data.
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Whether or not you realize it, you are in over your head. And sooner or later you are going to need support services. If you don’t have your own support personnel, you can utilize third-party services, like Firewall Technical’s IT support. As you grow, you are going to need help with VPN, mobile device deployment, and servers.
All of these tools are mission critical. You can’t afford a day when your devices are nonfunctional. When that day comes, you are going to need a CTO, or a third-party equivalent.
Security Is Harder than You Think
What do the IRS, DoJ, and Snapchat have in common? They all have much better security than you. Oh, and they have all been the source of data breaches in 2016. It can happen to any company regardless of the size.
You might believe your company is too small for such an attack. But you would be wrong. Don’t fall for the security by obscurity trope. The criminals could care less about you. They care about insecure, sensitive customer data.
As a person who runs a business or website, it is your responsibility to protect the sensitive information you collect. Email addresses are used for Apple IDs. If you require a strong password, it will likely be the same strong password used for other things.
You should never collect data you don’t absolutely need for the transaction. What data you collect, you should never keep unless you absolutely have to. What data you keep, you absolutely have to protect. When it comes to protecting customer data, there is a very good chance you don’t know what you’re doing. You could use a CTO who does.
For What’s Next
Eventually, your startup will have everything dialed in just right. You will have to perfect mobile devices for your sales team, and the perfect accessories and software for your perfect workflow. Then you blink. And everything changes.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 Anniversary edition. Should your business upgrade? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? A CTO. That’s who. Is it time for you to get your own server? Hardware or cloud based? Is there a way to get your business notifications to show up on your smartwatch? Tomorrow’s tech unleashes a whole new set of challenges. You don’t just need a CTO for what you currently have. You need a CTO for what’s next.
You are eventually going to need tech support. Security is a lot harder than you think. And the next update us just around the corner. Those are just a few of the reasons why someone should be filling the role of CTO in your company.
