Being in the industry for almost 10 years now, I
have some very good friends working as the Chief Technology Officer in various
companies of the Broadcast Industry in Pakistan. This article is not to offend
any of my friends but just thought that we all should realize what factors we
consider before making the decision and what factors should we actually
consider in acquiring the technology.
To
make it interesting I have categorized major types of CTOs , they are
·
TYPE 1: I want the
best
·
TYPE 2: why should I
invest so much?
·
TYPE 3: give me best
price
·
TYPE 4: no we can't
change everything
·
TYPE 5: our
management doesn't have budget
Now
let’s define these types:“I want the best solution” type
This type of CTO always wants to acquire the best
technology and price is never his top priority. This CTO will always follow the
industry trends and ethics. He will be not adapt any short cut to meet the
deadline or management’s expectations. They also play a vital role in educating
his management as they are usually not technology experts so it is the CTO who guides
the real use and worth of the investment in technology in order to achieve the
organizational goals and targets.
“Why should I invest so much?” type
These kinds of CTOs generally are
the ones who don’t keep them updated with the latest technology. Their
perception is that there should not be heavy investments if a cheaper option is
available. They are usually those who don’t have a specialized degree or
technology background from the grass root level. They came to this position with their
experience and hands on skills. They always find an alternate cheaper option
and usually think a short term solution. In the longer run they might end up in
spending more and eventually something that makes it difficult for their
organization to compete with their main competitors.
“Give me best price” type
Give me best price type CTOs are
the one who run for the prices. They will acquire technology only if it is
extremely cheap. They are more worried
about their management’s money that the management itself. Sometimes they are
quite successful as the suppliers in the competive world give extremely heavy
discounts but their margins are too less and they lose interest in providing
the efficient customer service. Another problem with these CTOs is that they
expect the heavy discounts from the suppliers to be valid for entire life time.
“No ,we can’t change everything” type
These types of CTOs want to do something but don’t
have the courage to adapt the rapid changes of the industry. They are always on
the back foot and are in severe pressure from their internal clients. There are
many if and buts in their mind and eventually they find that their management
is not very happy from them.
“My management doesn’t have budget” type
This type is very close to “why should I invest so
much type” but the main difference is that they realize the importance of
acquiring latest technology but are unable to convince their management to
invest on technology. They are happy with their 9-5 stable job and only get
aggressive when some equipment becomes faulty.
Conclusion:
Hope the readers had good time reading but the key
is to realize the individual and organizational circumstances. It always easy
to criticize as compared to provide the solution and execute it. So I would
like to highlight few factors that should be considered no matter what type of
CTO you are.
These
are below and they are not in any priority sequence
·
Total cost of
ownership
·
Scalability
·
Reliability
·
Price
Total Cost of ownership
It is one of the most important factors in decision making
as one should realize the overall cost of ownership and not just the deal
price. It includes the customer service of the supplier, the power consumption
of the equipment, post sales support, replacement policies, warranties, rack
space to an extent and many such factors.
Scalability
The industry and the
organizations are always growing so the solution should be selected which is
always easy to expand. it is not easy to make the equipment off air and then
add the new one , so ideally the equipment should be scalable and that too
without going off air.
Reliability
Reliability is again one of the
most important factor as this equipment has to be up and running 24x7x365. Down
time is not an option as it causes huge revenue loss therefore reliability and
performance of the equipment should be considered as a top priority before
making the decision.
Price
Price is also the key factor
especially in our market. We are heavily burdened by the rising cost and the
currency devaluation so ideally the target should be to get the best equipment in
the best price.
The above article is written by
Sheeraz Adil and will be happy to see your feedback on sheerazadil@gmail.com
