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"A true Technology Architect must be highly knowledgeable, totally objective
and have only one mission - to make sure your organization has the most
efficient and powerful technology platform from which to operate."
Recommended Reading!
Measuring Information
Technology Investment Payoff : Contemporary Approaches
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The Need
The Need for a Technology Architect –
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Growing competition and reduced budgets demand that organizations adopt new
methods and technologies for delivering products and services faster and
more economically.
This acceleration of technology as a primary factor in operating a
successful organization has increased the need for guidance and oversight in
the adoption and integration of technology. Additionally, due to the
increasing complexity and volume of new technologies being made available,
the practice of adopting technologies one at a time (using a consultant
familiar with the technology) is no longer an effective practice. Today this
practice usually results in a hodgepodge of non-complementary technologies
that generate high costs of ownership and provide little meaningful benefit.
General business and accounting consultants may be valuable regarding their
specific areas of expertise but are not effective as over-all technology
architects and advisors.
Most organizations are finding that there is an increasing need for a
Technology Architect with extensive knowledge of the entire technology
industry and a thorough understanding of all available technologies. These
abilities must be combined with comprehensive knowledge of modern management
and operations practices. Additionally it is critical that any Technology
Architect used not have any vested interest in selling or promoting a
particular technology. If the advisor derives income in any way from the
adoption of a technology - can that advisor really have your best interest
in mind? A true Technology Architect must be highly knowledgeable, totally
objective and have only one mission - to make sure your organization has the
most efficient and powerful technology platform from which to operate.
A Technology Architect is needed by an organization to design an overall
technology plan and help to integrate it into the organization’s strategic
plan and annual budget. A Technology Architect can also provide an objective
view of an existing technology plan and mediate between competing
organizational opinions regarding an existing technology issue. A Technology
Architect is instrumental in providing knowledge of currently available and
future technologies that will affect an organization’s ability to survive
and compete. Additionally their services are invaluable for coordinating the
hiring of technology consultants and managing the adoption and deployment of
technology within an organization.
Another factor that is rapidly affecting the need for a Technology Architect
is the new world of e-business. Business is no longer a “closed system”
where customers, vendors, and other trading partners interact through
defined portals such as the phone, sales reps, faxes, and EDI. A successful
enterprise must now extend into and be open to vendors, customers, and all
trading partners in a self-service mode. This extension of the enterprise
(via the Internet) requires adoption and integration of technology not only
within your enterprise but also across the entire supply chain and among all
trading partners and customers. The Internet has created not only global
competition but also global opportunity for any organization that can
leverage technology to take advantage of it.
continue
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