Why finance executives need to pay attention

Misalignment between finance and IT is a common problem in many organizations, giving rise to a long-standing debate about just how involved finance executives need to be with the IT department. Both departments have the same goal, that is, operational efficiencies throughout the organization that will keep costs down.

So why is there so often a lack of alignment? Why do these two functions seem to be working against each other?

The reality is that IT and finance are two very different organisms. They work differently, talk differently, and think differently. In fact, they have very little in common, aside from their goals. They are apples and oranges.

A perfect example of this divide is the differing approaches to a very important aspect of an organization's IT function: ITAM. To the finance side of the house, ITAM means short-term cost savings. Period. Never mind even if that can lead to penny-wise/dollar-foolish decisions!

Finance executives most certainly should be paying attention to the ITAM program. Although they don't need to know the ins and outs of the actual program, financial executives will care about the bottom line: ITAM programs that can garner as much as 20% overall organizational savings annually.