Last updated: 04 November 2007
In this list we cover the various areas of responsibility for a Technical Director or Chief Technical Officer in a small-mid size Microsoft focussed software company (eg 15-120 staff).
Hardware
This sections covers all the hardware related areas of a software company.
- Internal servers
- External servers
- ASP servers
- Firewalls, routers, switches, cabling
- VPNs
- Phones (PABX)
- IP telephony
- Desktops
- Laptops/notebooks
- PDAs & mobile devices
Software
This section covers software, technology and concepts
- .Net Framework (1.1, 2.0, 3.0 & 3.5)
- .Net Compact Framework
- SQL Server (2000, 2005 & 2008)
- WSS & SharePoint (2003 & 2007)
- BizTalk Server (2004 & 2006)
- Windows Server (NT, 2000, 2003 & 2008)
- IIS (5, 6, 7)
- Windows (XP & Vista)
- Windows Mobile (5 & 6)
- Silverlight (1.0 & 1.1)
- Project Server
- XML, XSL, XAML, CSS & HTML
- Dynamics
- Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 (free download)
- Virtual PC 2007 (free download)
- VMware (ESX Server)
- Team Foundation Server (TFS)
- PerformancePoint Server (2007)
- Citrix Server
- Terminal Server
- Visual Studio (2005 & 2008 Team editions)
- Visual Studio Extensibility (VSX)
- Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO)
- Office Business Applications (OBA)
- Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA)
- SQL Server 2005 Management Studio
- Office (2003 & 2007)
- Groove 2007
- Visual FoxPro (7.0, 8.0 & 9.0)
- Exchange (2003 & 2007)
- Expression Studio
- Project (2003 & 2007)
- Windows Messenger & IM
Other general areas:
- Web 2.0
- Anti-virus & personal firewalls
- Asset tracking
- Licensing
3rd Party tools and providers
This section covers general developer and technical tools. New tools are added as I play with them...
CodePlex and Community projects
This section covers general developer projects available from CodePlex
Concepts
This section covers general areas of understanding required by CTOs
- Project management
- Security
- VPN access and remote access
- Unified Communications
- Web site hosting
- Application hosting (ASP)
- Disaster Recovery
- Power consumption
- Air conditioning in data centres
- Failover architecture
- ISP analysis
- Enterprise Content Management
- Web standards
- Accessibility
- Scalability
- Architecture
- Performance monitoring
- Uptime monitoring
- Patterns & Practices
- SOA
- Web Services
People management
This section covers the soft skills required by CTOs
- Career planning for staff
- Efficiency versus Effectiveness
- Training
- Certification
- User group and community event involvement
- Networking events
- Hiring & firing
- Recruitment process
- Review process
- Overtime and leave policies
- Morale
- Staff retention policies
- Knowledge transfer
- Change management
- Succession planning
Partnering
This section covers the partnering and joint venture side of business
- Microsoft Partner program
- Government Endorsed Suppliers
- MDC
Have I missed something obvious?
Got a suggestion? If so, please contact Craig Bailey.
