Faster, Better, Cheaper. CFO’s Guide to IT Projects
CFO’s and IT projects can be a point of contention in some companies. The mindset is different from a CIO often times. Maximizing resources and cost effectiveness is often more challenging on IT projects because of the complexity of projects and initiatives.
Here’s a quick framework to reference as you’re considering budgets, project priority, and efficiency identification:
Current Talent Pool: Do you already have the expertise in-house? What is their track record, and do they have available capacity? If you hire for this role will you have consistent work for them after the project? Do you have the ability to attract, identify, and retain top talent?
Opportunities versus Sunk Cost: Is this project automating, integrating, or upgrading existing systems/processes that will lead to a return on investment? What is your time to ROI? Many companies have more of these opportunities than they realize. It’s also important to upgrade legacy systems as the cost for ongoing support of legacy systems can end up being more expensive in the long run.
Bottlenecks and System Integration: Do you have employees hitting bottlenecks that are system or process limitations that could be solved with process automation. Maybe if these 2 systems talked to each other that would eliminate hundreds of hours of work?
Outside Talent: For many companies, IT needs fluctuate quite a bit. Also, you may just need a different experience set than your internal team. Often times, getting outside help (and perspective) can help save both time and money. You get the benefits of paying only for what you need, the expertise, and laser focused resources.
Perception: Like it or not, how actions are perceived inside and outside of the company matters. If you already have a team in place and need to augment it for performance, make sure to control the narrative. Most teams are open to help when leaders are communicate the the purpose of bringing in outside help is just that….. help. Communicate it early and as a way to “take pressure off”. After all, that is exactly what you’re doing.
Talent Acquisition/Talent Retention: Even when companies are highly invested in technology as part of their core business, turn-over, retention, interviewing, is tough. Turn-over is incredibly expensive amongst tech workers due to higher salaries and “ramp up time”. Finding people that great at what they do is hard, but can massively increase productivity, boost team morale, and reduce overhead. This is where finding a consulting partner can really help, the right partner will have access to the talent you need that is already vetted and ready to hit the ground running.
If you’d like help finding automation, integration, legacy upgrade, or cost savings opportunities let us know! just schedule a call and we’ll make sure to provide value on the first call. If was useful, consider sharing it!
