Why CIOs Must Work Collaboratively With Their CFO
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Why CIOs Must Work Collaboratively With Their CFO
With companies devoting more of their budget to digital transformation initiatives, CIOs must improve their ability to collaborate closely with their CFO. -
Rising Numbers
86% of the executives surveyed said more than 10% of their enterprise's total budget will be allocated to IT transformation efforts in 2018. Only 61% said more than 10% of their total budget is devoted to the transformation today. -
Biggest IT Transformation Drivers
Reduction of IT costs: 75%
Need to be first to market with new products and services: 73%
Need to reallocate funds to areas that directly support business: 67%
Customer demand for products and services designed for them, instead of generic ones: 65% -
Tech Targeted for Investment Within 12 Months
Big data: 77%
Clouds: 76%
Social media: 72%
Business intelligence: 60%
Predictive analytics: 59% -
To-Do List, Part I
75% of the executives surveyed plan to adopt or expand IT process reengineering over the next year, and 69% expect to adopt or expand automation platforms to deliver IT services. -
To-Do List, Part II
67% plan to adopt or expand server upgrades over the next year, and 65% expect to adopt or expand business continuity/disaster recovery technology and services. -
Essential Exchange
96% of the executives surveyed said it is either important or critical for CIOs and CFOs to collaborate closely to achieve business success in their industry. -
Underwhelming Impression
Despite the significance of such efforts, only 38% of CIOs and 36% of CFOs describe their collaboration attempts as excellent. -
Why CIOs Feel They Can't Collaborate With CFOs
Lack of incentives to work closely together: 32%
Outdated attitudes on part of CFOs about the primary role of CIOs: 30%
Lack of sufficient tech expertise among CFOs: 29% -
The Best vs. the Rest: Learning Opportunity
81% of the executives at leader organizations and just 54% of those at laggards said it is either important or critical for CIOs to develop greater business expertise to foster closer CIO/CFO collaboration. -
The Best vs. the Rest: Outpacing the Pack
Compared to others in their industry, 76% of those at leader companies said they are either mostly ahead or market leading in their IT transformation efforts, but only 34% of those at laggard firms made this claim. -
The Best vs. the Rest: Profit Statement
24% of those at leaders expect to see ROI from their IT transformation efforts within the year, but only 9% of those at laggards anticipate this.
The stakes are increasing for the digital transformation, as a growing number of organizations plan to invest in transformation-enabling technology tools and services. Such investments, of course, will make a significant impact on budgets, which is why the vast majority of technology executives and other top leaders believe it is important or critical for CIOs and CFOs to collaborate closely, according to a recent survey from Dell EMC. The resulting report, "IT Transformation: Success Hinges on CIO/CFO Collaboration," distinguishes companies into the categories of "leaders" and "laggards." Leaders are defined as those that saw at least a 7 percent increase in sales and profits over the past year, and are highly likely to view the IT transformation as a strategic priority that supports overall business goals. In contrast, only two of five laggard companies view transformation in this way. Survey respondents at leaders are also more likely to believe that CIOs must acquire greater business expertise to improve collaboration with CFOs—efforts that have not yet delivered on high expectations. "Successful collaborations between CIOs and CFOs are important because these key players provide the financial and technical skills necessary for IT transformation, which itself is becoming a competitive differentiator," according to the report. Many companies, regardless of industry, "see IT transformation as essential for maintaining their competitive edge and addressing the shifting demands of customers. In fact, many executives consider technology innovation so important, they routinely describe their organizations as digital enterprises." An estimated 500 global CIOs, CFOs, CEOs and other senior executives took part in the research, which was conducted by Forbes Insights.