Study: CFOs call the shots in enterprise IT

CFO influence over enterprise IT is on the up as CIOs lack the authority to solely approve new technology investments.

This is according to Gartner's annual Financial Executives International Technology Study.

The research found that CFOs solely authorised 26 per cent of all IT investments, while CIOs alone only authorised five per cent.

In companies with less than £31m in revenue, 47 per cent of IT departments report to the CFO. This compares to 58 per cent of companies with revenue more than £31m and less than £156m.

"This high level of reporting to the CFO, as well as their influence in technology investments, demonstrates the need for companies to ensure that their CFO is educated on technology, and underscores just how critical it is that the CIO and CFO have a common understanding on how to leverage enterprise technology," said John Van Decker, research vice president at Gartner.

When making an IT investment, 72 per cent of CFOs said that they will invest where they see a competitive advantage driven by IT. The research found that for senior financial executives, business intelligence is the top technology priority going forward.

However, only 30 per cent of respondents said that IT truly fulfils its mission, which highlights that 70 per cent do not believe that IT is providing business benefits. Also, only 32 per cent of CFOs said that they see the CIO as a strategic partner.