UK CTOs believe technology is not aligned with business objectives

Sixty per cent of UK Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) believe that technology is not aligned with the business objectives in their organisation, according to new research from developer marketplace platform Deazy.

The State of European Dev Ecosystem 2022 revealed that cybersecurity and data breach vulnerabilities were the biggest concerns for UK CTOs, with 52 per cent saying that’s what kept them awake at night. One-third of CTOs said that a lack of IT resources to manage current projects, and tech not delivering what the business needs were their biggest headaches, while more than one in five said a scarcity of technical talent.

There was positive news in terms of budgets. Eighteen per cent of CTOs said their organisation’s technology spend increased significantly over the past 12 months, while 61 per cent said it has slightly increased. Despite this, insufficient resources (45 per cent) and insufficient budget (40 per cent) were two of the biggest reasons given for a technology project not getting off the ground, along with a lack of support from the board (42 per cent).

Andy Peddar, CEO, Deazy commented: “The idea that technology is not fully aligned with business objectives feels archaic in 2022, but the research findings clearly indicate that this is a real problem. CTOs are being asked to protect the organisation against data breaches and cyber-attacks while developing new applications, supporting existing applications, and managing hybrid working environments. However, they have to do so without the required budget and expertise in their teams, and with a board that does not recognise its strategic importance. Is it any wonder that tech and business are not fully aligned?”

More than one-third of CTOs believe that the rest of the board undervalues the role of the CTO. Given those findings, the elements that CTOs would most want to change about their roles were more budget (48 per cent), more resources (43 per cent) and a greater understanding of technology across the organisation (31 per cent).

These issues are impacting the ability of CTOs to do their jobs effectively and meet internal objectives for technology. Twenty-eight per cent have seen development projects fail in the past 12 months due to a lack of resources, while more than one in five said they lack the internal skills and expertise to manage all their development projects.

Peddar continued: “Code underpins everything businesses do in 2022. Whatever the specifics of a project, whether supporting a legacy app, building a new website or app, or testing and protecting against vulnerabilities across a portfolio of apps within a business, it will almost certainly require code. The demand for development is greater than ever, which puts CTOs and their employers in a quandary – how can they meet this ongoing demand for development services when they are often under-resourced and underfunded? There is a major shortage of talent, and while steps are being taken to address this in the long-term, in the short-term, enterprises and agencies must expand their teams in other ways.”

CTOs were keen to look after their in-house teams, with the most important element revealed to be ensuring their team is motivated to work (49 per cent). This was followed by ensuring the team is qualified to do the required tasks (46 per cent) and giving the team members competitive benefits and salary (44 per cent).