Research from STX Next has found that a fifth of CTOs reached the position in fewer than five years. A further 35% of respondents revealed that it took five to ten years to reach CTO, while only 27% took 11-15 years. The results highlight the surprising speed at which a CTO position can be reached, and suggest it is a viable career path for aspiring tech professionals. Other key findings from the research included: n There are multiple routes to CTO: 33% of those surveyed said they joined the organisation as a CTO from another company. Around 29% were promoted from within their organisation and 34% said they co-founded a business and became CTO immediately. n On-the-job experience is crucial: 70% of CTOs were formerly software developers or engineers, while 60% were tech leads or engineering managers and 29% were project managers. Just 7% were academic personnel. n Around one-third of CTOs report high job satisfaction: on a scale of one to five, 35% rated their job a five and 43% rated it a four. www.stxnext.com BULLETIN Fast career path for tech professionals Best areas to work A study by the School of Marketing which analysed data including transport costs, fuel costs, average salaries, and internet access, found that Reading was the best place to work in the office, performing best all-round on transport costs and wages. It scored third for the highest salaries, behind London and Oxford, with an average wage of £2,617 a month. The town has seen big companies move in with new offices, with the likes of Huawei, Three UK and Microsoft all operating in the area. Cardiff came in second, with the area once again offering cheap transport costs and high wages, with the area’s average maximum mean download speed of 660 megabytes per second, seeing it feature in the ten best. Coventry was third, with the city second scoring highest for internet speeds and accessibility with a maximum mean download speed of 849 megabytes per second. It was also one of the cheapest for transport, coming in second behind Dundee with the cost of a one-month bus pass at £50.90 on average. https://schoolofmarketing.co/ Business printer revenue overtakes consumer market Revenue sales through distribution of business printers across Europe have remained significantly higher than those of consumer devices in January, thanks to the strong performance of Laser SFPs, according to new data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. CONTEXT’s Index Revenue Trend graph recorded sales figures for consumer and business markets criss-crossing several times during the course of 2021. But since around Week 50 last year, a gap has opened up between the two, with business revenues on top. They crossed the 100 index baseline in January and continue to rise above the weekly average revenue for 2021. “While volume sales for both business and consumer printers were lower over this period compared to a year ago, business volumes fell at a slower rate”, said Antonio Talia, Head of Business Analysts at CONTEXT. “Revenues increased thanks to a different product mix, featuring more high-end devices, and price increases for entry-level and mid-range devices. The latter trend was influenced by a shortage of consumer printers in the same price range - especially Laser SFPs – driving up the average selling price and overall revenue performance.” www.contextworld.com 89% of CTOs plan to embrace outsourcing STX Next research has found that almost nine in ten CTOs (89%) plan to outsource software development or IT expertise in the future. This is despite the fact that 59% are not currently outsourcing, indicating that it is set for a resurgence. The research revealed that outsourcing has experienced a lull in popularity. 46% of CTOs have never outsourced technical talent before, while 43% have done it in the past but stopped. Reasons for ceasing outsourcing include low quality work, lack of strong relationships with external partners, communication issues and a poor cultural fit. However, outsourcing still has major appeal if prospective partners abroad up their game – of those who have outsourced, 39% have done so globally, while 33% have outsourced within the same continent. www.stxnext.com PE investment spurring unprecedented technology deal spree Quantum has released new survey data that reveals the most common challenges organisations struggle with around effective data management, storage and analysis. Yet, to many technology entrepreneurs, private equity remains a poorly understood concept when it comes to capital options. In its recent Tech Private Equity Demystified report, ICON aims to clarify understanding, bust some of the myths around private equity, and shed light on what it takes to secure a successful private equity transaction. Last year, over one-third of all technology exits in Europe was private equity funded – an increase of 38% on 2020, and almost three times as much as in 2015. Predicting further investment growth in the sector, ICON cautions that businesses looking for funds need to get investment fit first to compete for premium deal outcomes. www.iconcorpfin.com 01732 759725 4 PRIVATE EQUITY DEMYSTIFIED 1 Tech Private Equity Demystified February 2022 GLOBAL TECH INVESTMENT BANKING LONDON SAN FRANCISCO BRISTOL Meet the Judges page 22
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