CFO Archives - Everest Group

How Can A CFO Become A More Strategic Business Partner? | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

September 19, 2016

Two years ago, I blogged about the switch from CIOs to CFOs as the new influencer in technology spend decisions. Fast forward to today, and there’s a lot of talk about how CFOs can become a more strategic partner to the business by adding more value. There are a couple of approaches that companies take to achieve this objective, but, alone, these tactics don’t achieve the desired outcome.

One thesis, as described in a recent SandHill article, is that companies need to implement different software to capture and integrate data from multiple sources so the CFO will have the framework for data-driven opinions to present to the C-suite.

In the context of the CFO role, what is strategic?

The Industry-Wide Significance of Accenture’s PureApps Acquisition | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

June 17, 2014

Accenture recently announced its acquisition of PureApps, a UK-based Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) provider. Our understanding is that it’s a full-service provider for all Oracle Hyperion EPM and BA solutions. Nevertheless, PureApps is a small firm and the revenue won’t make a noticeable difference to Accenture. So why is Accenture buying PureApps? My opinion: they are buying a niche player as an influence point with a stakeholder group that is growing in importance in the technology and in BPO services.

PureApps’ services in implementing Oracle Hyperion give them relationships at the office of the CFO. As I recently blogged, the office of the CFO is growing in influence for tech spend, especially in the transformation space. With this acquisition, Accenture gains the advantage of a set of services and immediate credibility in serving CFOs.

This is a nice — and important — acquisition as it gives Accenture the following benefits:

Enables more relevance and a counter play to the CFO access sphere that Deloitte and the Big Four consulting firms currently enjoy for large-scale transformation projects.
Strengthens Accenture’s position in the European markets.

Bottom line: the acquisition is a smart play for stable growth in the core consulting/transformation space, which will continue to grow as the digital world gains momentum.

Changing Influence in Tech Spend | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

April 16, 2014

Recently I had a conversation with an executive at a large software house known for its ERP. One of many things that struck me in our conversation was the change in whom the sales team targets. Their primary target is no longer the CIO; now it’s the CFO.

Apparently, in today’s business outcomes-driven world, CIOs are no longer authorized to drive tech spend decisions of this type, nor do they have the ability to write the check.

As I reflect on this change in decision rights and executive focus, I don’t find it at all surprising; after all, it is consistent with what I’ve blogged about several times. As she put it, the reasons for buying technology today are driven much more by business need and the impact that the technology can drive; it’s increasingly less about the technology itself. In this shift in mindset, the CFO and senior business stakeholders have become more influential because they have the best understanding of the business impact needed from the technology.

The lesson for a global services business

If the technology players are shifting their focus to the CFO as the influencer of tech spend, I think this underlines the changing dynamics or decision rights for the global services industry and the imperative to engage with and serve others outside of the CIO.

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Tag: CFO

How Can A CFO Become A More Strategic Business Partner? | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

The Industry-Wide Significance of Accenture’s PureApps Acquisition | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

Changing Influence in Tech Spend | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

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