In In this tough economic climate where CFOs vigilant eyes are on the investments, it plays a vital role in ensuring business return for all major areas of investment. HP says the first step would be the cloud conversation with CIOs. It has been observed that CFOs have responsibility and influence over the information technology investments.
There is no doubt in the fact that CIOs are faced with a substantial opportunity with new and transformative technologies continuing to hit the market at an ever-increasing pace. But the bigger question is how CIOs are leveraging the emerging trends and technologies to help businesses. Cloud computing have caught the attention of decision makers across the business. Forward-thinking CIOs will grasp this opportunity to initiate and drive the corporate conversation about the benefits, risks and roadmap for cloud. In doing so, they will carve out a leadership role in an empowered business unit that thrives on exploiting technology for overall business success.
HP has conducted a research on 550 global companies that in 17 per cent of organizations, CFO sets the cloud strategy. According to Gartner, 42 per cent of organizations have IT reporting to the CFO, and 26 per cent of IT investments require direct authorization by the CFO.
Getting inside the CFOs mind
To get inside the mind of the CFO, HP study says CIOs need to understand that business process and enablement are key issues for the CFO, and considerations for implementing cloud technologies will be viewed through this lens.
There is a risk that the CFO will view cloud technologies solely in terms of return investment (ROI), as a tool to replace expensive data centers and staff. Although these are benefits of working in the cloud, the ROI conversation is complicated for a number of reasons. There are multiple business process changes and compliance issues that CFOs need help considering and navigatingand theres an enormous opportunity to fundamentally address some of the major cost and growth levers in their business, including new market expansion.
CIOs have the opportunity to serve as a knowledgeable resource and educate their CFOs on cloud technologies, proactively addressing concerns and clearly defining its business value. As a result, CIOs improve opportunities for increased funding, while solidifying their strategic position as drivers for positive change.
The best approach for CIOs is to work side-by-side with the CFO to develop a road map for cloud adoption that reduces potential disruption to the business and adopts a flexible mindset on ROI.
Business Benefits of Cloud Technologies
- Employing technologies delivered as a service (via the cloud) rather than investing in on-premise technology solutions
- Enables companies to take advantage of the latest technology efficiencies and innovations
- Saving time and money by allowing an external cloud vendor to shoulder the burden of maintenance and hosting
- Reduction in environmental footprint
- Rather than maintaining an expensive IT data center on site, companies can tap into a scaled data center
What are the common concerns?
CIOs need to address CFOs concerns about cloud technology in order to present a convincing cloud adoption plan.
Three major concerns sited in a survey are managing security, business continuity and regulatory risks, as well as developing a compelling business case for using cloud systems. The CIO must keep these concerns in mind during conversations with the CFO, and provide solid proof points as needed.
CFOs, undoubtedly, are concerned about the financial implications. Primarily, CFOs are concerned about the financial implications, the respective costs of researching and selecting a cloud vendor, implementing cloud solutions, migrating legacy systems and training employees to use new technology.
CIOs cannot talk the vendor insights about the long-term savings. CFOs need a clear understanding of initial costs, as well as impact to business efficiency and income while introducing these new technologies.
If CIOs manage to address these concerns of CFOs, they are through. They are through not only with the budget allocation but also paving a way to book a seat in the corporate table.
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