The CFO and CIO: a vital partnership for success 5. Build finance leaders’ understanding of IT issues Key activities for CFO-CIO collaboration As Chart 4 on page 6 shows, CFOs point to insufficient understanding of IT The strategic value of IT is now being recognized, and a closer CFO-CIO issues as the number one obstacle in the CIO relationship. relationship is developing as a result. In the rest of this series, we explore how “As the owners of the key information systems, it is very important that CFOs and CIOs are collaborating across four key activities: CFOs have general IT knowledge,” says Nikolay Andreev, CFO, Head of 1 Managing cybersecurity Administration and Technical, Nova Broadcasting Group. “This ensures that they get the best result from how systems are designed, 2 Creating an analytics-driven organization what systems are used in the organization and how they’re supported and developed.” 3 Establishing information strategy, architecture and processes Aligning finance and IT around the right metrics is another key challenge. 4 Transitioning to a digital IT function Often, the benefits of technology enhancements are not readily apparent or easily quantified. “The benefits can be difficult to identify because they are part of broader organizational objectives. And they tend to show up in broader productivity improvements, rather than within the IT function itself,” says Stephen Pearce, CFO, Fortescue Metals Group. “ There are not enough people at a very senior level in finance who really understand the implications of digital technology for the company. Many CFOs are scratching their heads trying to figure out how they can build the skills within the finance function and the organization as a whole.” Tony Klimas, Global Finance Performance Improvement Advisory Leader, EY Partnering for performance Part 3: the CFO and the CIO 9