Rimini Street, Inc., a global leader in enterprise software support, products, and services, and a top third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software, as well as a Salesforce and AWS partner, recently released the findings of its Censuswide survey, “C-suite Imperatives: Evolving IT and Enterprise Investments.” This Rimini Street-sponsored study surveyed nearly 3,000 CFOs and CIOs worldwide, exploring the dynamics between these key business leaders and the factors driving their technology investment decisions.
The survey data revealed that as IT costs continue to climb, CFOs are gaining more influence over IT decisions. Budget constraints and the demand for measurable results compel CIOs to ensure strong ROI on technology investments. Close collaboration between CFOs and CIOs is shown to yield profitable outcomes by aligning IT projects with the company’s financial and growth objectives.
Key Finding #1: Strengthening CFO and CIO Partnership
86% of CFOs and CIOs say their relationship has strengthened.
CFOs are increasingly influential in IT investment decisions. According to the data, 72% of CFO respondents report leading the process of setting technology budgets, and nearly 41% of CIO respondents indicate that their CFO counterparts are responsible for making key technology decisions.
The growing collaboration and shared accountability between CFOs and CIOs can enhance business profitability. In fact, 49% of CFO respondents believe that a strong CFO/CIO relationship has contributed to improved business outcomes.
“Working closely with the CFO in strategic alignment and in the early stages of planning helps technology teams make smart decisions that are in line with both the corporate vision and budgetary goals for the business,” said Rimini Street CIO, Gertrude Van Horn. “It’s the partnership that drives favorable outcomes for the company, and we lean heavily into this relationship to ensure we are identifying ways to achieve greater profitability while freeing funds for innovation.”
Key Finding #2: Addressing Rising IT Costs
CIOs are tackling rising IT costs with investments in emerging tech (44%) and by outsourcing application support (36%).
CIOs are heavily investing in AI to mitigate rising IT costs. An overwhelming 87% agree that leveraging historical data is crucial for maximizing the value of their AI projects for ERP, though 94% acknowledge their data requires significant clean-up to be effective.
Improving cost predictability is another key focus for CIOs. By outsourcing IT services to address the loss of IT talent and staff, CIOs have reported several benefits: support for application customizations (33%), broader service and support solutions (33%), enhanced quality of service (32%), and faster issue resolution (30%). Additionally, 26% have successfully lowered costs through outsourcing.
Key Finding #3: Evaluating Technology Initiatives
ERP upgrades or migrations (23%) delivered the least amount of value for CFOs.
Security (28%), emerging technologies like AI, business intelligence, and data analytics (27%), and customer-facing SaaS technologies (27%) were ranked as the most valuable technology investments for businesses. In contrast, ERP upgrades or migrations did not garner the same level of enthusiasm from the surveyed CFOs.
Only 20% of CFOs were satisfied with the results of their technology investments, often citing issues like increased ongoing costs, reduced flexibility, or organizational disruption. Thus, CIOs must consider both short-term and long-term impacts in their technology strategies.
“Thousands of clients of Rimini Street who have taken the lead in maximizing the value of their substantial ERP investments also benefit from the flexibility and freedom to innovate with best-fit solutions for their needs, on their own timeline,” said Rimini Street CFO, Michael Perica. “It’s not just about the $8B we’ve saved our clients to date, we’ve helped them reallocate their people, time and money towards strategic initiatives and innovations that accelerate growth profitability for the business.”
For a comprehensive analysis, access the full report, “C-suite Imperatives: Evolving IT and Enterprise Investments,” here.
