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Why not ask the IT team to design a swimsuit range?

Ray Delany

Updated: Jun 9, 2022

I consider myself a seasoned IT professional. Would you engage my services to design your marketing campaign for your summer swimwear range? Should we go tropical or polka dot? So, why do so many companies put Finance in charge of IT?

IT professionals working together

I see one of the core subjects in the GradDipCA for New Zealand and Australia is Risk and Technology, completed over a 9-week period. Does this seem like enough for a finance professional to design your company’s digital transformation strategy or even assist in a cloud vs. on-premise decision?


I engage with many SMEs where there is a Financial Controller/CFO role with a Systems Administrator (or similar) role reporting to them. The SA is usually the only IT person in the business. This means they do everything from making sure the integration to your payroll system is working, to setting up your kid’s laptop.


The SA is both loved and loathed. Loved if they sort out payroll, but loathed if the ERP system goes down and the business grinds to a halt. How much time do the SA and CFO have to dedicate to innovation in IT when they are busy with resetting passwords and financial reporting?


I recently attended a conference and one of the speakers’ presentations was “Working Smarter not Harder”. It would be really hard and not smart at all, for me to take that swimwear marketing role.


IT reporting to Finance means the financial aspects of IT are the focus – how much is IT costing us?


IT reporting to the CEO aligns IT with the business strategy.


But, a lot of SMEs can’t justify a full-time CIO or CTO. This is where outsourcing comes in, preferably with a trusted partner.


It’s important to choose a partner that can offer a team of technology experts from many backgrounds and industries. Imagine the financial cost and number of years it would take to acquire that resource within your existing team!


I can’t tell you how to sell polka dot togs, but I can tell you how to move your business forward with digital transformation.


Angela Whittle is a core advisor with CIO Studio, a company built to partner with SMEs and help them solve the “strategy” problem and align their digital investment with their business outcomes. Reach out for a no-obligation chat about crafting your business IT strategy.

 

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