Saturday, December 11, 2010

Who's More Important to the Firm? The CIO or CFO?

I saw a question this morning asking which position has more influence over the firm.  It depends on the firm.  Ten years ago we saw a large portion of CIO's which reported to the CFO.  Now with the IT transformation to a to a business enabler we are seeing CIO's report to the CEO.   When the CIO reports to the CEO and has a "seat at the table" then they are more influential than the CFO.  This is simply because they have created the notion of trust with the executives which then usually translates to the firm believing in the value which technology can bring to their competitive advantage.  Rarely will the CFO hold a position where they are bringing a competitive advantage to the firm but often you will see this with the CIO.  The caveat of course is that the CIO needs to be a business oriented partner and not your traditional CIO.

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