Synchronizing the CFO and CIO

Question for the CFO – when did you last invite the CIO to a business planning meeting?
Question for the CIO – when did you last invite the CFO to a technology planning meeting?
I can hear you now……the CFO….. just a numbers guy, what do they know about the use of technology! Or was it ….the CIO…. is just a bits and bytes person who only knows how to spend money, what can they do to help solve my business problems!

I am sure this scenario is played out all too often in small to medium sized businesses across Canada. The CFO and the business units have a need to be more productive; need more timely information; or, a better way of serving the customers. The IT department is struggling with older technology that is more expensive to maintain; have users that are not utilizing the technology to the best of its capabilities; or, feel isolated from the business and its operational needs.

The truth is that both the CFO and CIO are laboring to the same end – the success of the corporation. By involving the CIO and the IT department early in the process most business and budget problems can be resolved by the astute use of existing information and technology or the introduction of new technology that is based on a sound business case. The better the understanding the CIO has of the business, process and production issues that face an organization the better equipped he will be to provide the appropriate technology portion of the solution. Similarly, the CIO is often stymied in replacing older technology or in introducing new technology because there is no business case. By involving the CFO and the finance department in the analysis of the problem, and the potential solution, accurate and meaningful costs and potential benefits can be identified – both of which are fundamental to a sound business case.

Many organizations have a somewhat uncoordinated approach to resolving business issues. This can result in departments being at loggerheads with each other and little or no progress being made. I believe the answer is cooperation through synchronization. Finance and IT professionals share many core fact finding and problem solving skills; but often approach the problem from different directions. Think of the potential if those core skills are synchronized towards a common solution. By drawing on the skills and expertise that exists across all business units, organizations can quickly pull together a multi-disciplinary team to focus on a problem. Where necessary the team can be supplemented with methodologies and appropriate advisors. By synchronizing these resources an organization can cost effectively address most business issues.

By creating a governance and project control structure that combines the analytical and problem solving skills of both the finance and IT departments’ together with business unit expertise and possibly external consultants a powerful team is formed. Using proven methodologies, business problems can be quickly diagnosed, pragmatic solutions formulated, sound business cases developed and practical implementation plans adopted. The use of a combined team that solicits input and opinions from the stakeholder departments throughout the process will be able to gain enthusiastic acceptance of the final solution and quickly see a quantifiable return on any investment.

Stuart Millar
Partner, Consultant (Outsourcing, Telecom and IT and Business Alignment