Survey Reveals That the CFO Is Becoming the Top IT Decision Maker in Many Organizations

The CFO is increasingly becoming the top technology investment decision maker in many organizations, according to a joint survey conducted by Gartner, Inc. and Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF). According to the annual study, more IT organizations report to the CFO than the CEO or any other executive. Forty-two percent of IT organizations surveyed said that they reported to the CFO, and 53 percent of CFOs said that they would like to move to this reporting arrangement.

The joint study found that 42 percent of organizations said their IT organization reports to the CFO, 33 percent to the CEO, 16 percent to the COO, 2 percent to a chief administrative officer and 7 percent to other officers. This was fairly uniform across companies of all sizes, although the percentages reporting to the CEO in large organizations were higher, though the groups still reported to the CFO in greater percentages.

In 41 percent of organizations, the senior financial executives (mostly CFOs) who responded to the survey viewed themselves as being the main decision maker for IT investments. This response occurred in most situations where IT reports to the CFO, but it also occurred in other reporting models. In another 34 percent, CFOs are among the key recommending/sponsoring executives. Thus, in 75 percent of firms, the CFO plays a vital role in determining IT investment. In addition, 20 percent of CFOs have a minor role by providing some input, and in only 5 percent of cases does the CFO not participate in IT decision making.

However, this performance is often not achieved because of poor perceptions of IT, a parochial CFO or CIO perspective, or a failure to invest in the CFO-CIO relationship. CIOs must understand the impact their CFOs have on technology decisions in their organizations and ensure that they are providing the CFO with the appropriate understanding of technology, as well as communicating the business value that can be achieved.

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