A recent survey by Cutter Consortium reveals that CIOs and CTOs are learning more about business models and processes as well as the financial relationship between business and technology.

Steve Andriole is a Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant and author of an Executive Update that analyzes this research. Andriole remarked, "The data shows that more than 70% of respondents believe that the relationship between the CIO and/or CTO -- and their CFO -- is at least pretty good. This is an important finding given how complex and difficult technology investment decisions have become. We might have expected very different numbers here, but apparently the language of business has successfully penetrated the CIO/CTO/CFO relationship."

Figure 1 -- How would you describe the communication between your CIO and/or CTO and your company's CFO?

"There's often a communication gap between those who pay the bills and those who spend the money. In some forward-thinking companies, technologists actually rotate with business professionals -- and sometimes even with finance professionals. When they come back to the ranch, they have a good understanding of costs, benefits, debt, amortization, and corporate ROI. When finance professionals spend time in a technology rotation, they come to understand the challenges of software licensing, outsourcing, and vendor management," says Andriole.

The data confirms that technologists are getting smarter about financial metrics and are better able to describe technology projects in financial terms. Almost 65% report that CIOs and CTOs do a fairly good job selling technology projects to financial managers.

Figure 2 -- How well does your CIO/CTO sell technology projects to financial managers?

Andriole concludes, "If these trends continue, we're likely to see a blending of business and technology responsibilities without the stovepipe titles and reporting relationships to which we're accustomed. In fact, it's possible to imagine a not-too-distant future in which CIOs and CTOs disappear and are reincarnated in the office of the CEO as business-technology optimizers, responsible for ensuring that technology investments serve specific business strategies and tactics."

To request a copy of the Business-IT Strategies Executive Update in which these comments were made or to schedule an interview with Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Steve Andriole, contact .

More information about Steve Andriole is available at http://www.cutter.com/meet-our-experts/sabio.html.

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