CFO’s predict the role of the CIO will not exist in 5 years

This prediction coming as it does from a survey of CFO’s to whom CIO’s are increasingly reporting is worth a closer look. The survey by IT services company Getronics canvassed 203 UK based CFO’s with 1,000 plus employees.

Key findings were:
• 17% of CFO’s believe the CIO role is in jeopardy
• 43% believe IT will merge with finance
• 77% of CFO’s had assumed greater responsibility for IT decisions over the past 2-3 years
• 50% claimed that lack of integration between finance and IT limited the impact of cost savings achievable from IT projects

Major drivers cited include the continuing commoditisation of IT services especially cloud and other outsourced services that are now available. Also apparent in the survey was a lack of trust in the IT leadership with 38% of CFO's feeling the CIO does not know enough about finance and 40% feeling the CIO does not know enough about IT!

For me the findings are more evidence of the growing paradox between the commoditisation and operationalisation of IT within business while at the same time rapid technology change is transforming the global economy and creating the opportunity for new and more effective business models. The survey results suggests that there is a lack of leadership and strategic insight from CIO’s and as a result IT is increasingly being marginalised. Comments such as that of Mark Cook the CEO of Getronics in reflecting on the survey “that only by freeing up CIO’s from the day to day burden of managing assets will organisations be able to truly realise the value that a CIO can bring to their business” ignore the fact that CIO’s have had about 30 years to stake their claim and provide true leadership to the business, most have failed to do so. A new logic for IT management is therefore needed to ensure organisations have the skill to survive and exploit the business environment of the future. The previous one has not worked, its time to try something else.

The Getronics report can be accessed at http://getronics-uk.com/knowledge-share/news-and-events/changingcfo.php

David Gwillim
Exploring the value of IT to organisations
email: david.gwillim@optusnet.com.au
blog: http://www.businessitvalue.blogspot.com/