Cisco UK & Ireland Blog
Share

We’re all going digital: but are you ready for CIO vs CFO?


February 13, 2017


In the last few years cloud has had a massive impact on the competitive landscape for almost every company.

In my previous blog I covered why the opportunities presented by digital transformation were so critical for the CFO. Here I wanted to cover off how the changing roles for members of the C-Suite ultimately leads to completely new ways of doing business.

It could almost be billed as a boxing match. Two old foes going toe-to-toe: clashing in the same arena for the first time as the worlds of technology and finance collide.

In the red corner! The CIO: a fast-mover who demands change and rapid growth…And in the blue corner! The CFO: known for their measured approached and steely resolve.

It creates a powerful image, doesn’t it? But while this could be the reality for some large organisations, the combatants who hang their gloves up and start collaborating with each other will ultimately win.

Where can CFOs help?

When talking about digital transformation for the enterprise, quite often very large sums of money are involved. That obviously tweaks the interest of CFOs, particularly if the payback periods don’t happen over the first year or two.

With traditional investment cycles going out the window, IT departments are also taking greater control over some of these budgets. While lending their expertise to departments, the CFO has the opportunity to greater influence the overall strategy.

Technology is the enabler of business, but in the age of digital transformation finance is also the enabler of technology. This means finance solutions need to speak the language of technology owners.

This is where Cisco Open Pay can help. It provides a ‘cloud-like’ experience for customers who want to own and have their own secure assets in an on-premise data centre.

That phrase alone should have technologists immediately on side, before even mentioning the added benefits around greater agility and the ability to cover surges in demand.

Organisations now want flexible payments when making IT investments, which is why there is such a sweet spot for Cisco Open Pay.

In the fast-moving world of today upfront CapEx investment models don’t work. And we’ve seen first-hand the increased demand for shared risk models.

Again this highlights the blurring of the lines. Technology enables businesses to move fast, and a consumption-based financing model means they can do so with ease. All of this should happen with the CFO and CIO collaborating and working in tandem.

Open Pay allows customers to sensibly over-supply in their data centre, meaning they can be better prepared for spikes in demand. One such example of this in action is Dutch managed services provider Open Line.

“In this fast paced world you have to keep building and refreshing your assets and applications to become digital companies,” said Sales Director Jo Verstappen (link to FDE external video).

“When we (used to build) cloud solutions for our clients we missed the income upfront.

“In the new Open Pay structure the costs are in line with the income phasing from our clients.”

Open Pay speaks in the language of the CFO in the age of digital transformation. It’s a veer away from the traditional way of doing business, but one that benefits both the new breeds of CFO and CIO.

As you embark on your digital journey, Cisco Open Pay is the sure-fire way of reducing the risk of investments in technology.

Tags:
Leave a comment