The Role of Today's CTO

by Ram Reddy

The role of the CTO as we once knew it has become an endangered species. During the past few years of economic downturn, the CTO and strategic planning staff roles have suffered from the most substantial cutbacks. Controversial articles such as "IT Doesn't Matter" by Nicholas Carr (Harvard Business Review, May 2003) further challenge the need for the CTO role.¹ IT vendors have also challenged the need for the CTO role in organizations. The vendors contend that, as the organization buys the underlying technology architecture and the intellectual resources of the vendor, their technology makes the role of the CTO obsolete.