HSBC CFO discusses collaboration with IT function

Sophia Steiger, CFO of HSBC's Operations, Services and Technology function, discusses the benefits brought by close collaboration between the Tech and Finance functions

HSBC took the decision to change the ways of working between IT and its Finance team over the last two years, and is now reaping the rewards brought by collaboration between the teams.

Sophia Steiger, CFO of HSBC Operations, Services and Technology (HOST) said that the teams now work hand in hand.

"We've changed the way we work over the last two and half years. The COO, CIO and I talk every day with the goal of delivering maximum value but without exceeding budget."

The benefits include happier staff and improved decision making, she added.

"We now share lots of decision making and reporting. Some of the Finance people sit directly within IT in Business Partnering roles, so they're much closer to operations. So when I ask them if we're going to hit our forecast each month, they can answer straight away because they know exactly what's happening.

"That makes my staff happier, gives better results and better decision making."

The collaboration also gives Finance teams deeper insight into the business in ways they wouldn't traditionally see.

"It's useful when we have discussions with suppliers around pricing and what we want. Our Finance teams wouldn't see that if we weren't set up like this. It's very easy for Finance to be removed from the business process, but having this mixture of sometimes doing VAT and sometimes working on a big strategic global supply deal - that makes Finance fun."

Steiger and the Tech COO drove the change to this more collaborative way of working, and Steiger explained that there wasn't always as much transparency.

"When I arrived I didn't feel I had enough visibility into what was being delivered for the budget. Tech teams weren't always able to articulate the spend in detail, but now we're all much more focused on what the bank gets for the money spent; whether that's a pure run, or a change project."

Part of this process has been helping to change the mindset of HSBC's CIO community.

"Some CIOs prefer to just focus on delivery, so we've had to demonstrate to them that explaining to your customers what you've spent money on is as important as managing the delivery itself.

"We've all been on this journey together, because we're sitting around the same tables with them, and they see us at the coalface."