Here's how CTOs can bridge
the GAP to build superior software & data teams
If you are a CTO, head of engineering, or in any way involved with managing your organization’s technology stack and the people who run it, you will have noticed the headwinds currently facing you. The reality right now is tough economic conditions: hiring freezes (with full-time equivalents, FTEs, on hold), slashed budgets and, in some unfortunate cases, layoffs. But while it is difficult for an individual organization to predict any great economic or internal shifts, the wheels of your company must continue to turn. Strategic imperatives such as growing revenues, maximizing ROI and accelerating digital transformation require continual iteration. Customer demand and buyer behavior continue to accelerate, as well as competitor pressure.
If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse Under such conditions, it is tempting to sit back and wait it out. But there is a cost to not moving. There is a reason why ‘keeping the lights on’ is a pejorative term in product delivery. Even with efficient processes and solid ROI, if you're standing still, you're actually going backwards. Your business goals require action. Why? Because technology, and models of working, keep evolving. Cloud is now the lifeblood that runs through most technology enterprises. Familiarity with your cloud provider of choice and the languages that underpin them — from .NET and Java to Python and Ruby— are non-negotiable. Alongside this greater compute power, data and analytics practices, with AI, predictive modeling and machine learning at the forefront, continue to evolve. If you are not on top of this, rest assured that your competitors will be. The need for high-quality software delivery at speed and at scale remains. But even without the current economic headwinds, the hiring process can be cumbersome. Look up best practices on hiring software engineers, and the advice for employers is frequently the same: articulate your stack, technological roadmap and company values clearly; value soft and hard skills; and conduct high-quality technical interviews. Yet technical interviews often do not correlate with the day-to-day work of the team. And this is not easy to reconcile.