The CIO and CFO rarely agree on digital strategy

Less than a quarter of business leaders say that the CIO and CFO are aligned on the approach to digital transformation

As digital working becomes more widespread, business leaders have to work in many areas of technology: from accelerating new delivery models, optimising growth investments and boosting financial and operational agility.

According to a survey by Financial Times Focus and Apptio, C-level leaders need to work together more closely to pursue digital transformation and raise business-wide trust in IT. However, the report also shows a blurring of responsibilities; tensions between IT and finance; and the rising importance of the CIO as the executive most likely to lead change.

More than half of organisations in the survey (comprising C-level leaders in 12 countries, from firms with more than $500 million in revenue) who are ‘embracing' digital transformation say that they are adopting an agile, flexible approach. However, technology leaders - although seeking to drive growth through innovation - ‘expect to maintain almost the same proportion of effort enabling business model change over the next three years', as they balance the need for growth with the need to operate existing systems.

68 per cent of respondents said that digital transformation has strengthened collaboration among the C-suite. Nearly half (47 per cent) said that such transformation also blurs the lines of roles and responsibilities, though, which can affect how much some leaders are able to work together. Only 23 per cent of respondents said that CIOs and CFOs - representing technology and finance, respectively - are in ‘deep alignment', compared to a global average of 30 per cent.

That lack of alignment naturally leads to friction between departments, but also creates opportunities for CIOs. According to the report, the CIO is considered the C-level leader most able to drive change - but, to do so, must be able to communicate with the rest of the business, and stakeholders, effectively.

The need for communication is a barrier for many IT departments. 71 per cent of finance leaders said that the IT function ‘needs to develop greater influencing skills in order to deliver the change their business requires'. This applies to IT teams, too, which must be able to discuss both technical and business needs.

Atticus Tysen, CIO at Intuit, said, "Your job is not to be the smartest technologist in the room - it doesn't scale any more in the world we're in. Your job is to raise the technology acumen of the entire room."

As well as communication, there are also concerns over governance, which poses challenges for adoption and migration. Only about a third of respondents said that they are confident in IT's ability to govern cloud across the business.

Tysen said, "You have to put in place the right processes, the right governance and the right conversations to allow business units and functional groups to be part of running technology."

Conversely, more than half (51 per cent) of leaders in the FT/Apptio survey feel that IT is taking a more proactive stance on data leadership across the business compared with other functions; and 58 per cent of those say that this approach has been ‘very effective' in helping to meet growth targets.

Read the full report read here.