* Define units of service in terms that the business understands, and show how changes in IT service consumption affect costs.
* Reward IT staffers for lowering the total cost of service.
* Set the prices for IT services to support overall business objectives, such as cost predictability.
* Invest in IT asset management for making resource allocation decisions (not for reacting to audits).
Most of all, CIOs should communicate using the business metrics -- like "decrease unit costs" -- that really matter to the company's leaders, says Saby Mitra, an associate professor in the College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
--Mary K. Pratt
By the numbers: What CFOs worry about
Is there something IT can do to ease your CFO's mind?
CFOs' top macroeconomic concerns:
1. Weak consumer demand
2. The federal government's agenda
3. Intense price competition
4. Credit markets/interest rates
CFOs' top internal concerns at their own companies:
1. Maintaining profit margins
2. Cost of healthcare
3. Difficulty forecasting results
4. Attracting and retaining qualified employees
Base: 481 chief financial officers in the U.S.; multiple responses allowed.
Source: Duke University and CFO magazine, December 2010
Top risks in the next five years:
1. Financial exposure
2. Supply-chain/logistics disruption
3. Legal liability, reputational harm
4. Technology failure
5. Security breach
Base: 168 senior finance executives; multiple responses allowed.
Source: CFO Research Services and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., June 2010
This story, "What CFOs want from IT" was originally published by Computerworld.