Why CIOs Must Work Collaboratively With Their CFO

cooperation

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Outdated attitudes on part of CFOs about the primary role of CIOs: 30%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.