Gone are the days when the CFO dealt solely with financial planning, record-keeping, and reporting. With the sheer pace and impact of digital disruption, CFOs can no longer simply report on business performance but need to define how their organizations can best manage risks and opportunities that are driven by the rapid change in technology. A key responsibility of CFOs for 2016/17 will be to work with their businesses to forecast accurately the “as a service” cost of technology as well as establish a framework for governance and management of technology investment.
The visibility that CFOs have into their organization’s financial performance as part of the C-Suite gives them a unique vantage point to fulfill this responsibility. The recent 2016 IDC Ecosystem study for Australia indicated that there is a stronger engagement from the C-Suite in the prioritization and application of technology as a business enabler. CFOs will also need to adopt new skills if they are to successfully navigate digital disruption’s swift and always-shifting currents.