What are the main CTO (CTOaaS, CaaS) types?

All companies and startups want to be successful. It is axiomatic. And the role of the CTO in achieving success is indisputable. But there is one "thing" – small startups and businesses do not always have enough budget to hire a Technology Director full-time. According to Glassdoor research, the average CTO’s annual salary is $273,783. It’s a lot of money, even for medium-sized businesses.

But, despite its salary, the value of the CTO’s work is much greater. It is the link between developers, owners, and investors. He's in charge of the following:

• optimization of company resources for development;

• introduction of modern technologies that help to achieve goals faster;

• preparation of an up-to-date roadmap to achieve the company’s short- and long-term goals;

• presentations of work to owners and investors;

• identifies possible improvements to the product or service;

• plans of technology development strategies.

And sometimes even takes the Senior or Lead developer functions, participates in interviews when hiring new developers, and conducts onboarding.

We know companies such as Apple, Google, and other, thanks to CTO's work. Their strategic planning and configuration of the practical work of the entire team help start-ups become famous.

We have great news for you if you are a startup owner and want to hire a top-notch CTO to promote the business even faster. The article below will describe six types of CTO and CTO as a Service. This information will help you recruit the right professional at the right price to get the necessary advice for business development.

Six types of CTO services

The six types of CTO (CTOaaS, CaaS), which we will discuss below, are relevant to any business. If you are looking for Tech Directors for your business right now and want to choose the correct option – the information below is for you.

We have prepared general information about each type of CTO and a table with which you can select a specialist without effort.

Full-time internal CTO

It is the classic CTU you hire full-time. It performs the basic tasks we discussed above. The full-time Technology Director is always at the office and 100% dedicated to your project. This type of CTO is always in the workplace and responds to changes.

High wages are the only drawback of hiring a full-time CTO for small start-ups and companies. If you can’t pay $20,000 to a top specialist, it’s better to choose CaaS at a lower price. We’ll talk about them below.

Full-time offshore CTO

This type of CTO (CaaS) is similar to the internal Technology Director, but often works remotely. Frequently, such specialists combine online work in several companies. The main advantage of hiring a Director – you get an offshore CTO who solves crucial issues at a reduced price.

But at the same time, you need to be prepared for the fact that the CTO will not be able to respond and perform tasks immediately.

One-time services CTO (CaaS)

CTO-as-a-service (CaaS) allows you to hire an on-demand consultant to laser-focus the critical problems your business needs to solve. So while the rates of $300+/hour can sound scary, it will save tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars by a long shot.

Every CTO enjoys troubleshooting complex cases and is well-versed in finding quick solutions. 20 hours of CTO time can be more than enough to set you on the right track and can replace months of work of software engineers banging heads against the wall.

Interim CTO services

If you leave the startup without CTO indefinitely, the business processes may stop, and the results will be unsatisfactory. So, interim services CTO (CaaS) will help you take the Director of Technology position. It will not only help you to control all processes in the team, but will also help you participate in interviews with candidates for the CTO seat.

Interim services CaaS are excellent for small startups that only configure the business process flow. It’s like a budget trial to help put things in order.

Fractional CTO

It is CTO as a Service is available by the hour. It means you can specify any tasks, but pay the CTO’s time in work. He can work on the company's development strategy from scratch or adjust the necessary processes within the team.

Also, startup owners hire a Fractional CTO to hear a different view. This step is essential if the business does not work for a long time.

Project CTO

It is often called a CTO with solid Project Management Skills. It would be best to hire such a professional at the beginning of the project. So you will save money in the long term.

CTO (CaaS) in your project:

• implement the technologies suitable for the creation and success of this particular project;

• will tune the development team, not the whole company, but only those involved in the project;

• will create a current project roadmap.

And will fulfill other duties of the CTO, but to create and promote a specific project.

Final Thoughts: How to choose a suitable CTO (CTOaaS, CaaS)

We hope you have already realized how important CTO (or CTOaaS) is in business. CTO is not just a colleague. It is an investment in the future of business.

We have created a table to make it easier for you to choose the suitable CTO type for your business.

The information above will help you to hire a good CTO or choose CTO as a Service. And this step will help your business become even more successful.