I have written a dozen technology books over the last decade since the mid nineties. These books focused on specific technology and provided solutions to reduce time-spent to learn them for the readers. The readers were mostly technology folks — my ex-peers.
For the last seven years, I have focused on working with small and medium (SME) companies throughout the country (USA) and found that many of these small companies either do not have a full-time Chief Information/Technology Officer (CIO/CTO). After all, a good technologist with 10+ years of experience, who can be qualified to be a CIO/CTO cost around $200K/year, which is a big financial commitment for most of the SME companies.
Unfortunatley, not having a rock-solid technologist on staff means these small companies go through a very rough cycle of technology nightmares more often then they should. They make bad decisions on all levels of technologies: choosing the wrong platform, wrong vendor, and wrong policies and strategies.
This book is an attempt to help such companies have an introduction to the CIO/CTO thinking that they lack so dearly.
All the assumptions made in this book are based on my personal experiences over the last 20 years. Like any human, I am prone to mistakes and therefore I suggest you form your own opinions and decisions with good, sound judgments instead of relying too much on yours truly.
Thank you,
Kabir CEO, EVOKNOW, Inc.
ABOUT THE TITLE I have not finalized if I want to call this book The Mini CTO or The Mini CIO yet.
Who is the Intended Reader?
This book is written for the small and medium (SME) company owners, founders, partners who are the real force behind the greatest economy of the world. Although my experiences are limited to the United States of America, I have a strong feeling that they also apply to most of the world. Therefore, the book’s materials should equally be suitable for small and medium companies throughout the world.
I have tried to write this book with an understanding that the reader is not a trained technology professional and rather a smart business owner who plays a part-time role of a CIO/CTO. If you are a trained technology professional, you might find the writing style and explanations a bit simplified for the obvious reasons.
Disclaimers
Based on my past book writing experience, I expect that a small percent of the readers of this free book will contact me or my company to help with specific technology needs such as software development, audits, strategic assistance, due diligence in purchasing tech firms, etc. Honestly, this the only form of marketing I am comfortable with as a technologist. Nevertheless, I have made sincere efforts to not turn this into a marketing brochure for my company. Also, it has been my experience that most business owners are very amenable to advice from real-world practitioners instead of academicians or arm-chair theorists. Therefore, I think this disclaimer need not be any longer.