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Maximizing ROI in IT Industry: How CIOs and CFOs Tackle Rising Technology Costs.

The new business success power team is between the CIOs and CFOs. This dynamic duo is built to maximize a company’s innovation for long-term growth while maintaining financial responsibility and protecting profitability.
Robert E. LaMear IV - Founder, US CLOUD
Written by:
Rob LaMear
Published Dec 26, 2024
Maximizing ROI in IT Industry: How CIOs and CFOs Tackle Rising Technology Costs.

Cost-cutting is a team effort these days. Increasingly, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are working together to discover innovative ways to maximize ROI in IT the industry, saving even more money for their companies.

Because technological innovations are a part of how companies often remain competitive and provide necessary resources for their employees, IT-related costs are often at the forefront of expenditure talks. It is therefore crucial that CIOs and CFOs collaborate on ways to help the their team flourish financially and technologically.

One way to minimize costs, this dynamic duo often finds, is to rely on expert third party support that can optimize crucial service without the cost. Read until the end for more information about how US Cloud supports the interests of professionals in both the CFO and CIO roles.

CIO and CFO Collaboration: Tips for Success

In this section are our collection of tips to help your team navigate the difference between and financial-first and a technology-first mindset. We know it’s not easy—in some cases, it may feel like conservative money conditions can’t accommodate a company’s true technological necessities.

We’re here to tell you that it’s not necessarily true! CIOs and CFOs don’t need to stay stuck at an impasse. There are many ways for businesses to remain fiscally responsible and technologically savvy at the same time. Some main rules of thumb include:

  • Align on the common goal of doing what’s best for the company
  • Leverage shared data and key performance indicators (KPIs)
  • Maintain open consistent communication between the finance and IT departments
Collaboration Tips for CIOs and CFOs
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A great example of this is the fact that cybersecurity is no longer a concern that solely involves the IT department. Cyberattacks are relevant to CIOs, too, in the interest of managing corporate risk.

Mitigating cybersecurity risk is in the best interest of the company and requires mutually shared data and communication between finance and IT departments. Therefore, financial resources must be allocated for this purpose and IT knowledge, and skill must be implemented.

Changing Roles: CIOs and CFOs Aren’t What They Used to Be (But Not in a Bad Way)

The roles of CIOs and CFOs have been changing amidst today’s financial landscape. For CIOs, technology continually changes so their role changes too. In this field, it’s crucial to keep up with an ever-shifting technological landscape for loud computing, IT optimization, and general digital transformations.

CFOs, on the other hand, are often becoming strategically involved in company-wide decision-making with an eye on cost management. These decisions increasingly involve IT-related matters, thanks to the growth of technological innovation and application.

With shared goals of increasing efficiency and profitability while at the same time streamlining processes and operations, CIOs and CFOs will benefit from inter-departmental collaboration and decision-making.

CIO and CFO Responsibility Breakdown.

That’s not to say this will all be smooth sailing. Below, you’ll find a collection of some of the main collaborative obstacles that are worth considering within the terms of the CIO/CFO relationship. If you plan for these sticking points, you can ensure that your team’s conditions are as conducive to success as possible.

Major Collaborative Concerns: Tips for CIOs & CFOs to Plan Ahead

This is not an exclusive list of all the points that a CFO and a CIO may disagree on, but it’s a start. Reviewing some of these more universal concerns may help your team consider other more specific points of contention that should be prepared for.

Must Solve for Rising IT Costs

Tech innovations and upgrades aren’t free, as you may already be aware. In fact, CIOs exhibit growing concern over higher expenditure requirements for tools and systems their companies need in order to function productively.

Particularly, cloud computing costs are rising. For many companies today, a cloud service is crucial to overall operations. Eliminating cloud subscription costs entirely is often not an option.

For that same reason, demand for US Cloud’s Azure Excellence service continues to surge as a cost-saving solution on a necessary service. Return on investment (ROI) in cloud computing can be evaluated successfully—just ask our team of experts!

Must Evaluate Technology Initiatives for ROI

Any new (or current) tech services should be investigated for their effectiveness, of course. Some services may even bear auditing for ROI. A CIO may focus on finding out if this service is doing the company any good, which could help communicate to a CFO whether or not that service is worth the maintenance cost.

Must Balance Cost Savings Against Long-Term Innovation (and Survival)

We’re here for progress and endurance without incurring financial risk for the company. That’s what it boils down to.

Cost-cutting shouldn’t hinder technological progress, survival or the competitive advantage of the company, but technological decisions should also be made responsibly and strategically. The goal here that would satisfy both camps is to manage financial risk but drive growth through calculated investments. In the end, your team could have the enviable scalable-but-secure IT solutions. That’s where you want to be!

How CIOs and CFOs are Already Partnering to Cut Costs

We’ve talked about some general points of contention by this point. Now let’s talk about some more specific solutions used by the world’s CIOs and CFOs to reconcile their different professional approaches. Think of each of the options below as a possible avenue to explore to make both parties happy (if you haven’t shaken hands on these matters already).

Determining Optimal Cloud Computing Configurations

We know this post just said that cloud computing costs are going up but hear us out. When configured to the right size and needs of a company, it can be the right choice.

HOWEVER: it might not be. Some companies have also been transitioning away from full cloud-based computing in favor of on-premises infrastructures. For certain setups that’s an equally cost-effective and powerful choice.

CIOs will have the ability to decipher which option to pursue. Then, while CIOs determine correct cloud structure, CFOs might be focused on licensure analysis, subscription requirements, and scalability costs.

Illustration of two business professionals analyzing a rising bar chart with an upward arrow, symbolizing growth, strategy, and collaboration for financial and technological success.
Driving Growth Through CIO and CFO Collaboration

Regardless of whether your business’ IT infrastructure needs to move towards or away from cloud-based solutions, managed services like US Cloud offer help to enable the shift in either direction.

Leveraging Managed Support Services

Microsoft support services provide specialized expertise to help you reduce maintenance costs and downtime in the event of system issues. CIOs ensure an optimized internal system with expert external support while CFOs can evaluate the financial impact of downtime elimination and maintenance support

Consolidating Software or Hardware Assets

Streamlining IT infrastructure so as to reduce redundancies; Azure Excellence; CFOs look for ways to eliminate excess (and unnecessary) costs while CIOs seek ways to upgrade tech and improve efficiency

Managed Services and Proactive Monitoring for Cost Optimization

Here’s the bottom line: managed services through US Cloud support the needs of CIOs and CFOs. Our technical experts implement industry best practices and data-driven insights to:

  • Identify proactive strategies for success
  • Optimize systems to support your profitability
  • Eliminate inefficiencies that hold back team productivity
  • Audit unnecessary resources that are ballooning your costs
  • Help IT costs remain more predictable for the future

Just one great example of this is the US Cloud Azure Excellence bundle. In just eight weeks, the service can essentially pay for itself as well as service from US Cloud. That’s because the Azure Excellence bundle runs a full audit of your Azure environment (as much or as little as you want) in an effort to help your business streamline your account to just the necessities.

Furthermore, customers of this service save on average about 30% of annual Azure spend. That’s a level of efficiency (and a lowered subscription cost) that both CIOs and CFOs can get behind!

Rely on US Cloud for Cost-Effective Service Support

US Cloud was built to help you and your team experience as little downtime as possible after encountering a Microsoft issue. As a third party managed service, we are fanatical about providing businesses with high-quality Microsoft support for a fraction of the cost of Unified.

Our 24/7 time-efficient system for addressing support tickets ensures that your team isn’t held back by technical problems with Microsoft. Furthermore, a lower cost paired with focused ticket resolution makes for a ROI that CIOs and CFOs can shake hands over. Contact us today to get started!

Frequently Asked Questions: ROI in IT Industry

What is “return on investment” (ROI)?

ROI is a financial metric for measuring how much gain (or loss) is generated by a certain investment. This is usually calculated as a percentage.

Why does ROI matter in IT?

ROI matters in IT because businesses must ensure that they are growing responsibly in both technical and financial terms. If an IT investment is not presenting a positive ROI, it must be further evaluated for its utility.

How can companies maximize their ROI for IT costs?

One of the best ways to ensure that a company’s ROI for IT costs will support the goals of the company is to ensure that the CIO and CFO work together closely

Why is it important for a CFO and a CIO to work together?

It’s crucial for a CIO and CFO to collaborate towards their company’s goals by balancing cybersecurity, technological innovation, and industry best practices with the company’s profitability and ROI on services utilized by the company.

What is a good ROI in the IT industry?

Since the benchmark for “good” ROIs varies by industry, CFOs will know more about what an ideal ROI is for your specific company in your industry.

Robert E. LaMear IV - Founder, US CLOUD
Rob LaMear
Rob LaMear revolutionized the tech industry by being the pioneer who first offered SharePoint Portal Server 2001 as a cloud-hosted service. His close collaboration with Microsoft was instrumental in sharing multi-tenant expertise, paving the way for the development of SharePoint Online. Today, Rob's company, US Cloud, stands out as the only third-party support provider recognized by Gartner as fully capable of replacing Microsoft Unified (formerly Premier) support. His unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence ensures that US Cloud remains a trusted partner for enterprises globally, consistently delivering world-class support to organizations reliant on Microsoft software.
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