Many businesses are reaching a point where their technology setup starts to feel wrong.
The systems have multiplied. Different departments use different platforms. Employees have developed workarounds. The IT team is busy dealing with day-to-day problems, while the leadership team is asking bigger questions about automation, AI, efficiency and growth.
At some point, the problem may not be the technology, it may be the structure around it.
For a growing company, having a traditional IT function that operates separately from the wider business can make it harder to turn technology into a source of efficiency and growth.
The question for CEOs is therefore worth asking: Does your technology leadership structure still match the business you are trying to build?
Traditional IT Structures Are Changing
Traditionally, IT had a fairly clear purpose.
They were responsible for keeping systems running, maintaining secure networks, supporting employees and managing the hardware, software and suppliers needed to keep the business operating. These responsibilities remain essential. A business cannot function effectively if its technology is unreliable or insecure.
But technology now reaches much further into the organisation. The Department for Business and Trade’s 2026 update on SME digital adoption highlights the role of digital technology in improving SME productivity and reports ongoing work to make adoption support more accessible to businesses. The update includes work on a scalable online CTO function to provide guidance and support to SMEs.
That changes the leadership question. If technology affects the way almost every department works, should responsibility for technology leadership sit entirely within an IT function?
Technology Leaders Need to Understand Business Strategy
A modern technology leader should understand not only which systems the business uses, but why they are being used and what they contribute to the organisation.
That means being involved in conversations about business strategy, operational efficiency, customer experience, data and growth. Whether the business is entering new markets, looking to reduce administrative costs, improve customer service or introduce AI, technology should be considered as part of the wider solution.
The technology leader should be able to identify where technology can create genuine value and where it may not be the answer.
This is a much broader responsibility than traditional IT management.
Digital Transformation Needs Long-Term Technology Ownership
One of the problems with treating digital transformation as a separate project is that transformation eventually has to become normal business operations.
A new platform gets implemented.
A process gets redesigned.
Automation is introduced.
Employees are trained.
The project is declared complete.
Then what?
Someone still has to own the technology, measure whether it is delivering the expected benefit and identify what should happen next.
Digital transformation is not simply about implementing a new system and moving on. As technology becomes more closely connected to business strategy, organisations need ongoing technology leadership. The UK Government’s 2026 Chief Digital and Data Leader Programme reflects this broader approach, helping experienced technologists develop the strategic, commercial and leadership skills needed for senior digital and technology roles.
This creates a strong case for bringing the responsibilities together.
Rather than having one person responsible for keeping IT operational and another responsible for transforming the business through technology, a growing SME may benefit from a broader technology leadership role.
How a Technology Leader Can Connect IT and Business Strategy
For a medium-sized business, this does not necessarily mean building a large digital department.
In fact, efficiency can mean doing the opposite.
A single senior Digital Transformation or Technology leader can own the relationship between business strategy and technology.
They don’t need to personally manage every support issue, device or technical incident.
Operational responsibility can sit with IT team leaders and specialists.
That creates a different structure.
The senior leader looks ahead.
The operational team keeps the business running.
The two functions remain connected because they ultimately sit within the same technology strategy.
What Should CEOs Look for in a Technology Leader?
The title matters less than the capability.
A business does not necessarily need a traditional IT manager with a new job title.
Nor does it necessarily need a large-company CIO.
It needs someone who can understand the organisation’s strategy and determine how technology can help deliver it.
That person should be able to move comfortably between the boardroom and the technology team.
They should understand enough about infrastructure, cybersecurity, systems and technical risk to make informed decisions.
But they should also understand processes, commercial priorities, budgets, people and change.
Most importantly, they should be able to explain why a technology decision matters to the business.
The UK’s 2026 SME Digital Adoption Taskforce update is telling in this respect. The government has completed an 8-week discovery into using a scalable online CTO function to help SMEs adopt digital technology, with services being integrated into the Business Growth Service and Business.gov.uk.
The underlying problem is not simply access to technology.
It’s access to the capability to use technology well.
Signs Your IT Structure Is Holding Your Business Back
There are some straightforward warning signs:
Your IT manager spends most of their time dealing with operational issues and has little time for strategic work.
Technology projects are initiated by individual departments without a clear overall roadmap.
The business systems are poorly integrated with many overlapping workflows.
Employees regularly duplicate information between systems.
The leadership team discusses business strategy without involving technology leadership.
The IT function is measured primarily on whether things are working rather than whether technology is improving the business.
Transformation projects are treated as temporary initiatives with no clear long-term owner.
Or perhaps the simplest sign is this:
You have technology everywhere, but nobody clearly owns how technology should help the business perform better.
If that sounds familiar, adding another system may not be the answer.
Changing the leadership structure might be.
Why SMEs May Need Smaller, More Strategic Technology Teams
Technology does not necessarily require a larger headcount as it becomes more important.
It can require better allocation of responsibility.
Modern platforms can reduce the amount of internal resource required for routine infrastructure and support. Automation can reduce manual work. Managed services can provide specialist capabilities where maintaining them internally would not make sense.
That can allow the business to put more emphasis on the person connecting technology to strategy.
The result may be a relatively lean technology function led by someone with a much broader remit, supported by operational team leaders and specialists.
For a medium-sized business, that can be more efficient than maintaining separate layers of IT management and digital transformation leadership.
How CEOs Can Build a Future-Ready Technology Function
The issue is not whether your current IT manager is good enough.
They may be excellent at what they do.
The question is whether the role itself is still broad enough for what the business needs.
Technology is no longer simply the function that keeps computers and systems running.
It increasingly shapes how the business operates.
That means someone needs to own the connection between business strategy, processes, people and technology.
For some SMEs, that may mean developing an existing IT leader into a broader technology leadership role.
For others, it may mean hiring someone with transformation experience who can take ownership of both strategic technology and operational delivery.
Either way, the objective is the same:
Technology should not simply support the business. It should help the business deliver its strategy.
At Bristow Holland, we specialise in senior technology leadership across the East of England and increasingly we’re helping businesses think through exactly this challenge.
Sometimes the answer is developing the technology leadership capability already within the business. Sometimes it’s redefining an existing role. And sometimes it’s bringing in a different type of technology leader altogether.
If you’re a CEO, CFO or business leader questioning whether your current technology structure is right for where the business is heading, get in touch with me for a confidential conversation.
Andy Bristow
Bristow Holland
