IT often finds itself in the unenviable position of speaking a language that business seldom understands. Though IT managers are getting better at understanding core business processes and subsequently translating IT requirements into a common language, they are often confronted with senior financial managers who have little technical understanding. But this too is slowly changing.
During a recent CFO.com Webcast several chief financial officers agreed it is time their ilk put a little more effort into understanding the ways of the IT world so that the often adversarial relationship between IT and business is put to rest.
What you don’t want is “a CFO against the CIO,” said Douglas Brady. But the partner with the Southfield, Mich.-based professional services firm Plante and Moran LLP has professional experience shared by few in the business world. Brady, a CFO today, is an ex-CIO. In fact, it was at his urging that Plante and Moran implemented a business-intelligence solution so the company could “analyze rather than report on the data” it was gathering.