Data Integrity, ROI Top IT Issues for Chief Financial Officers

"Improving data quality/information integrity" retained its position as the most pervasive critical technology concern among CFOs (according to 42 percent of respondents) in the 10th annual Technology Issues for Financial Executives survey. The survey was conducted by Computer Sciences Corporation in association with Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF) -- the research affiliate of Financial Executives International (FEI) -- and FEI's Committee on Finance & Information Technology.

While improving data quality remained a critical technology issue for CFOs, the need for better and more timely analytical information to support decision-making and monitor performance, or corporate performance management (CPM), continues to be an acute business issue. This year, 68 percent of respondents (compared to 61 percent last year) reported they plan to invest in CPM-based technologies.

"High-quality data and its related processing are preconditions to reliable reporting and analysis, but the CPM tools themselves are also key," said Jerry Boltin, a senior partner in CSC's Global Business Solutions and Services Group. "While most respondents have made and are continuing to make substantial investments to improve their analytical information environments, their information needs continue to grow in order to keep pace with an increasingly complex and competitive market."

In this year's survey, nearly 70 percent of respondents (an increase of eight percentage points from last year) reported that information integrity was negatively impacting business performance. However, less than half of respondents reported they have formal, ongoing programs to monitor and report on information integrity. Even among organizations with more than $5 billion in annual revenue, only about seven in 10 have existing programs.

"Given the importance of information integrity and the broadly shared belief that the lack of information integrity is negatively impacting business performance, it's somewhat surprising that more organizations don't already have improvement programs and measurement mechanisms in place," said FEI President and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Cangemi.

The survey also revealed that CFOs are concerned with "achieving the expected benefits from information technology investments." A new topic on this year's survey, this matter ranked second overall, with 34 percent of respondents rating it as a critical issue.

Information technology (IT) spending is expected to increase somewhat in the next year, continuing a trend of modest increases during the past several years. Consistent with previous survey results, all forms of in-sourcing (shared services) and outsourcing are expected to continue to grow. Payroll and IT activities continue to be the most commonly outsourced activities at about 50 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Continuing a trend from the 2007 survey, the direct use of offshore providers is increasing, but at a relatively modest rate, and the amount of offshore IT support is still relatively low comparatively.

Information security continues as an area of concern for financial officers but has slipped from the number-one position it held in 2005 and 2006 to sixth position this year. Although only about one in five CFOs report being "highly satisfied" with their security programs, three out of four report making improvements in this area during the past year. However, despite this improvement, the frequency of major security incidents is up with about 12 percent of respondents reporting one or more major occurrences. "Major" incidents were defined as causing a day or more of business interruption and/or adverse publicity.

The survey also examined a variety of additional pertinent issues, including financial executives' views related to financial management, IT strategies, use of technology applications and management of IT, among others.

The 10th annual survey reflects the participation of 629 financial officers who are FEI members. Approximately 75 percent are CFOs for their organization. All company sizes and industry sectors were represented. The vast majority of respondents, 83 percent, represent U.S. entities. Another 15 percent represent Canadian organizations, and two percent represent non-North American entities.