For instance, it’s no longer enough for CFOs to master their financial dominions—to set financial priorities that satisfy business objectives, to budget spending and cash flow models, and to know the most updated financial health of their businesses. As integral components of most businesses, IT departments and/or technology services account for a sizable portion of the operating budget. Therefore, many of today’s CFOs need to actively participate in making technology decisions at their businesses, not from a technology perspective, but from the financial perspective of more control over budgeting and cutting costs.

On the other hand, it’s also no longer enough for CIOs to just focus on delivering effective and efficient technology solutions; nowadays, CIOs must also factor in costs as many companies are evaluating their CIOs’ performance based on the resulting business profit gains or loss that are tied to the implementation of such technology solutions.

In order for modern businesses to, not just survive, but thrive, key officers such as the CFOs and CIOs can no longer operate their respective departments independently, without accounting for the needs of other departments within the businesses. Now CFOs and CIOs need to work together in a collaborative environment to achieve the common goal of running a financially successful business through efficient and cost-effective technology solutions.

The following are recommendations from Andrew Jesse, VP, Professional Services, Basware, detailed in his article in Enterprise Management Quarterly:

• Develop a cross-functional team to engage all key players in technology decisions: CFO, CIO, and business users.

• Identify and measure improvements in key performance indicators.

• Implement a shared service centers model to standardize best practices throughout your entire business—improve technology processes as well as cut costs.

In order to maintain a competitive edge, CFOs and CIOs of modern businesses must align closely and share responsibilities of streamlining operations and meeting key business goals. For instance, CFOs and CIOs can collaborate on how to leverage technology to cut costs so that they can provide, as a team rather than individual departments, greater profitability and value for their businesses.

To see how SmallCart implemented such practices described in the above article, please read our case study how an Electronics Distributor implements a global service portfolio solution to manage irresponsible spending in Information Technology.

For more on the changing roles of CIOs and CFOs:

Sources
-Enterprise Management Quarterly article: The changing roles of the CFO and CIO for greater business agility in a turbulent economy

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