The Full Guide to CTO Outsourcing

Pros and Cos of Outsourced CTO Services

Pros of CTO Outsourcing

• Aligning technology with your business goals
• Reviewing, selecting, and analyzing the technology stack that will drive productivity
• Advising on technical issues and alleviating decision-making
• Outlining a clear long-term roadmap for executives and the development team, all the way from the starting point to the goal
• Setting business goals, both short-term and long-term, to have a complete vision for the company's growth
• Budget management covering different timeframes, monthly and annual 
• Project supervision and technical staff hiring
• Technological initiatives implementation and risk mitigation
• Fostering smooth communication between the development team and the company's management staff

Cons of CTO Outsourcing

As has already become clear, having a technical director is a must-have for a company. Especially if the CEO does not have a technical background. One option for hiring a technical director is outsourcing. However, not everyone will agree that this is a good idea, and among the CTO-related fears in outsourcing software development, you may hear the following: 

• The position of technical director requires complete dedication to the processes and company operations. Not all outsourced CTOs can fully invest their time and efforts into a single project. Often, outsourced technical directors lack loyalty and commitment. As a rule, they come in, perform the task at hand, and leave. 
• Any company wants to create a product that people will use. This requires that the CTO is not only technically competent but also has additional knowledge so that the result is exactly what a company wants to see. That's why opponents of outsourcing argue that hiring an outside CTO doesn't guarantee that he or she has sufficient knowledge in that particular business niche.
• CTO outsourcing limits the ability to test, introduce new ideas for upgrades and incorporate new features because of the limited budget available for the CTO's services. 
• An outsourced CTO can work on several projects at the same time, which again reduces the involvement in the project since your project will not be a priority. If you want the tech director to put maximum effort into the project, you have to shell out a large sum of money. Such a move is not economically feasible and can create a hole in the company's budget. 

How to Outsource a CTO

The concept of hiring a CTO is gaining ground among tech startups. If you made up your mind about CTO outsourcing, we have prepared a sequence of actions that will help you find the most suitable professional. 

#1: Search in Several Channels

 It's a matter of luck as to how quickly you can find the desired professional. Some people find success by searching on one platform, while others have to search through multiple sites in search of "the one". 

Let's take a look at the options for where to find your CTO:

Word of Mouth

You probably have people on your tech team who have outsourced tech directors on their contact list. They may have had occasion to work with one. Maybe your fellow CEO or IT buddies will be able to refer you to someone. 

This method is advantageous because, in addition to getting a contact, you also get a recommendation and have the opportunity to find out about the experience of working with the recommended professional.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a treasure trove of talents. Outsourced specialists, as well as full-time hires, reside there. 

If you type in a query related to an outsourced CTO into a search engine, the platform will show you candidates who are considering such employment. From a candidate's profile, you can find out more information about their experience, skills, and background. 

The platform has an internal messenger where you can make initial contact and learn more about the candidate and their expectations.

CTO-As-A-Service Agencies

Dealing with agencies that provide outsourced CTO services is a great option if you don't want to waste time looking for the right candidate or when the search doesn't yield the expected outcome. 

This option of outsourcing a CTO has several advantages. First, it saves you time, and second, the agencies are experienced enough in providing CTO-as-a-service for startups solutions and already have worked out workflows to ensure smooth cooperation with the client. 

However, it is possible that going to such agencies will not be so cost-effective, since the cost of the outsourced CTO services is higher because it includes a surcharge on the agency's services.

Also, among the concerns regarding the work of such agencies is the hiring of a performer rather than a creator. For specialists from such agencies, your company is just another project and most likely will not become something special for the service station. Therefore, you run the risk of encountering a desire to make money instead of enthusiasm to lead the product to success. 

Another fear of such an option is the lack of experience in creating successful scalable products in-house. In other words, you run the risk of hiring someone who consults rather than crafts. 

Going for Software Development Studio

The closing option on our list is to find an outsourced CTO at a mobile app development agency. 

We believe this option is the smartest for several reasons:

• You hire a specialist who not only knows the theory but also has life experience in software development
• In view of this experience, the CTO will be able to choose the technology stack more correctly
• Your development team can take over useful experience, Agile-ceremonies, and practices to improve productivity

#2 Interviewing

Most likely, your search for a service station will lead you to several suitable candidates. You can see which one suits you best by inviting them to an interview. At the interview, you can learn more about the candidate's experience, skills, personality, and background. 

To make sure the candidate can fill your company's needs, ask them the following questions:

• What projects have you worked on?
• Have there been any projects you've worked on that are similar to ours?
• What fields do you have the most experience in?
• How can your experience be useful to our startup?
• How would you go about setting up a smooth workflow for the development team?

As we mentioned earlier, a CTO is not only about solving technical processes, but also about helping the business move forward. So you can ask a few questions about your project to see how much the candidate is willing to dive into the project. 

#3 Setting Up a Communication

Most likely, an outsourced CTO would prefer to work remotely. Although this  depends on one's preference, but if we're talking about outsourcing, the likelihood is high. We are sure that you already have experience in working remotely, so it will be superfluous to go into detail about setting up a remote interaction. 

We will only mention the tools that our team uses for interaction both within the team and with customers:

• Slack - a messenger for quick text communication
• Zoom, Google Meets - for calls with the team and with customers.
• Trello, Jira - for transparency of the whole process and convenient management

CTO Outsourcing at Celadonsoft

A professional ??? will help you build the foundation of your company from a technical point of view and direct the development in the right direction. However, finding the right candidate for this position is not easy. If you are considering outsourced CTO services, Celadonsoft stands ready to give you a chance to leverage our CTO outsourcing services among mobile app development outsourcing and web app development outsourcing.

Our skilled CTO can’t wait to start partnering with you and build your digital product in collaboration! Celadonsoft’s outsourced CTO will lead your product to success and treat it as their own, dedicating their time and resources. Our company's expertise shows that our CTOs are competent professionals who have extensive knowledge, strong qualifications, a strong focus on product success, and a wealth of experience. Contact us to get a top CTO.