CFOs have a long wishlist when it comes to improving IT

Ask and you shall receive—complaints about IT, that is.

One of the big shifts over the past decade has been the growing collaboration between finance and IT teams. But that evolving partnership, a study by Deloitte found, still leaves lots of room for improvement.

More than 35% of finance chiefs surveyed oversee their organization’s IT function either directly or indirectly. When Deloitte asked participants to identify three things the IT function needs to improve to realize greater value, CFOs had a lot to say—“their list went well beyond three,” according to Deloitte’s Q1 2022 CFO Signals survey, released today. This quarter, there’s a special section of the report on IT management.

The comments made by CFOs like, there’s a “dearth of technology professionals with intimate knowledge of the business they are trying to support,” there’s a need for “better communication with the business,” a need for “enhanced documentation and formalized policies,” and “speed,” fell into 11 different categories, Deloitte said. For example, there were 20 comments made about a lack of speed, agility, and innovation.

The three actions CFOs most frequently said they took to improve the value of the IT function and technology spend: 1) changing the IT function’s leadership, 2) improving governance, 3) and increasing investment. “The first action might cause some consternation among sitting leaders of the IT function,” Deloitte stated in the report. “There can certainly be a push-and-pull between the finance and IT functions, if business priorities are not in alignment,” according to the firm. “CFOs cite talent as the biggest challenge to realizing value from IT.”

Of the CFOs surveyed, IT spend averaged 3.1% of annual revenue, with some variation. When looking at industry, financial services had the highest percentage (4.2%), followed by services (4.1%), technology (3.8%), health care/pharma (3.5%), retail/wholesale (2.6%), energy/resources (2.3%), and manufacturing (2.1%).  

Overall, 34% of CFOs said they’re somewhat satisfied, 29% satisfied, and 5% very satisfied with IT. Meanwhile, 8% are dissatisfied, and 16% somewhat dissatisfied. The managing IT section is part of Deloitte’s quarterly survey of 97 CFOs from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (the survey closed on Feb. 25). The vast majority are from companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, according to the report.

As in the Q4 2021, CFOs named talent retention as one of the most worrisome internal risks. Regarding external risks, inflation, geopolitical instability, and policies and regulation were at the top.

See you tomorrow.

Sheryl Estrada
[email protected]

Big deal

MetLife's 20th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study 2022 found a tight labor market is marked by declining job satisfaction. In 2021, 74% of respondents who worked in manual labor positions were satisfied with their jobs. This year, just 55% are satisfied. And 63% intend to stay at their organization in the next 12 months, a decrease from 77% in 2021. The report also found that women, people of color, and Generation Z are experiencing disproportionate drops in job satisfaction and loyalty. "Knowing they are in demand, many workers are convinced they can find more attractive roles, opportunities, and compensation elsewhere," according to the report. The findings are based on two distinct studies fielded by Rainmakers CSI. The employer survey includes 2,737 interviews with benefits decision-makers. And the employee survey consists of 2,982 interviews with full-time employees, ages 21 and over. 

Going deeper

Wall Street’s ultimate bear warns of a recession and more pain for stocks ahead. Here are the buying opportunities he’s highlighting, a Coins2Day report by Shawn Tully, takes a look at the predictions of Greg Branch, founder and managing partner of Veritas Financial and CNBC contributor. "Branch discussed the troubling macro headwinds, four sectors that should prosper going forward, from cloud computing to cybersecurity, and the background that took him from a blue-collar upbringing to studying classics at Princeton to talking more sense about stocks than practically anybody on the the air," Tully writes.

Leaderboard

Daniel (Dan) D’Arrigo was named CFO of the enterprise of The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians (a Tribe), owner of the Palms. D’Arrigo comes to San Manuel with more than 25 years’ experience. He previously served as EVP, CFO and treasurer of MGM Resorts International (MGM) in Las Vegas, where he oversaw the company’s domestic and international financial functions. During his tenure with MGM, D’Arrigo played a key role in structuring the acquisition of Mirage Resorts and Mandalay Resort Group. 

Chris Stansbury was named CFO at Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN), effective April 4, 2022, succeeding Neel Dev. Stansbury most recently served as SVP and CFO of Arrow Electronics, Inc., In his role at Arrow, Stansbury was responsible for leading the company's global finance organization and served as a member of the company's executive committee. Stansbury joined Arrow in 2014 as VP and chief accounting officer.

Overheard

“There’s no question inflation is high. Rates are going higher. The Fed is in a box. No matter the slowdown, they’ve got to raise rates.”

—Tony Dwyer, head of the US Macro Group and chief market strategist at Canaccord Genuity, as told to CNBC.