Eliminate friction between CIOs and CFOs for IT transformation

Less than stellar IT Transformation results often center on problems that arise between two pivotal players—CIOs and CFOs—and their struggle to work together as a cohesive team as per new report “IT Transformation: Success Hinges on CIO/CFO Collaboration.”

A stunning 89% of senior executives acknowledge that significant barriers exist—ranging from outdated ideas about the role of CIOs to obsolete reporting structures—that keep CIOs and CFOs from collaborating more closely says a new report by Forbes Insights, in association with Dell EMC,

The study’s data derives from a global survey of 500 CEOs, COOs, CIOs and CFOs conducted by Forbes Insights and Dell EMC. The survey and a series of in-depth interviews with global IT and business executives.

Companies that succeed in IT Transformation report the strongest competitive positions and high growth—with gains in both sales and profits of 7% or more in the past year. 

Key Findings:

1. 89% feels that significant barriers keep CIOs and CFOs from collaborating more closely on IT transformation companies with the most successful transformation efforts see 7+% gains in sales and profits

2. IT transformation leaders are more than 2X as likely to report they are ahead of their competition and 2.5X more likely to report return on investment in 12 months or less

3. 85% of global executives plan to spend up to a quarter of their total enterprise budgets on IT Transformation in 2018

4. Top three investment areas in the next year will be big data (77%), cloud services (76%) and social media (72%)

5. 75% of global enterprise will invest in IT process reengineering while 69% will automate IT as a service and 67% will install new server technologies

6. Top goals for IT Transformation are reduced IT costs (75%), being first to market with new products and services (73%) and reallocating funds to strategic business projects (67%)

“Some CFOs still see IT as just a cost center, which doesn’t make collaboration easy,” said Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer at Forbes Media. 

“And CIOs need to apply their skills to core business processes like supply chains,” added Rogers.

Gaurav Chand, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Dell EMC said, “The CIO/CFO dynamic has significant influence in any business—and collaboration between those roles is the key to tying IT investments to business outcomes. Companies not already moving toward IT Transformation need to start now, or be left behind.”

Leading companies see significantly faster returns on their transformation investments, with a quarter registering paybacks within 12 months.