Why CFOs Must Lead the Charge to Modernize the Business—Now

Obviously, someone must take charge of modernizing the organization, equipping it with technology that provides access to business information as it occurs. This individual is the Chief Financial Officer, to whom IT and many Chief Information Officers now report. This was the conclusion of a Gartner and Financial Executives Research Foundation report, which indicated that the CFO is “increasingly becoming the top technology investment decision maker in many organizations.”

To handle the responsibility, today’s CFOs are broadly skilled individuals cognizant of the business urgency for modern technology. Their purview extends well beyond the finance organization to all corners of the modern enterprise. In many organizations, they have been entrusted as the overseer of enterprise intelligence and corporate management performance. Finally, they have responsibility for resource allocation—knowing where best to invest capital to generate profitable business.