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AOTMP Releases Study Detailing CFO Vs. CIO Approach to IT and Telecom Management

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January 30, 2008

AOTMP Releases Study Detailing CFO Vs. CIO Approach to IT and Telecom Management

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor


IT and telecom management is a critical role within the enterprise as communication flow and data sharing rely on the viability and flexibility of the IT and telecom systems. Just how important the role of this management is perceived by upper-level executives varies by company and by industry.


AOTMP has announced the recent release and general availability of its latest research report, CFOs’ and CIOs’ Perspectives: A Top-Down View of IT and Telecom Management.

This report details that when it comes to managing enterprise technology and telecommunications, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are often considered to be worlds apart. To produce its detailed report, AOTMP conducted a survey to learn about the views of leaders in finance and IT and heard from more than 275 respondents in an online survey.
 
According to this research, 69 percent of CFOs and 67 percent of CIOs rank optimization of technology management as the top priority for their IT group. Another trend was identified in the 63 percent of enterprises that indicated they continue to place emphasis on aligning IT and business goals.

Management priorities did include reduction in spending on IT and telecommunications, but this focus ranked third overall.
 
While alignment was found in perspectives, survey results also revealed contrasting views. Although IT ultimately holds responsibility for managing telecom expenses, Telecom Expense Management (TEM) initiatives are most commonly driven by finance.
 
It is the finance department that must often initiate advocating the establishment of formalized TEM programs. When considering managing telecom expenses, 69 percent of CFOs rank strategy development as the top priority, while 21 percent of CIOs rank it as a priority.
 
“The findings from our latest survey indicate that finance continues to be more strategic in developing a plan for managing this significant business expense, while IT focuses on the tactical work,” stated Joe Basili, Vice President of Research for AOTMP and author of the report, in a statement.
 
“For the benefit of the enterprise, IT departments need to put focus on strategic development as their peers in finance do,” adds Basili.

This research also identified a prime challenge area for IT and telecom. Enterprises frequently do not have or do not provide effective information to IT and telecom to understand and identify the greatest opportunities to reduce expenses.

Those TEM programs that make key data readily available and accessible for decision making can help drive savings from the least expected areas. One individual may recognize an opportunity to negotiate better rates; while another might suggest pooling users together to address variations in monthly consumption; while another may identify and opportunity to change a fixed—to-mobile environment into a mobile-to-mobile network.
 
“One of the most common and critical oversights we have seen in our work with thousands of enterprise telecom and IT environments is a lack of leveraging information about the environment,” said AOTMP’s President and CEO Tim Lybrook, in a statement.
 
“The data behind enterprise telecom and IT is the most powerful and useful tool for making decisions in technology management, growth, and budgeting.”

Identifying and understanding these differences, as well as where the two departments find alignment can lend to a more efficient IT and telecom environment where all departments are working together for innovation and cost savings.
 
The unabridged report is currently available to the public at no cost through the underwriting of Veramark Technologies, Inc. (www.veramark.com) and Vocio (News - Alert) (www.vocio.com). Readers may download a complimentary copy of the report at http://www.aotmp.com/research/0108BAN.html.
 
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC (News - Alert) and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.
 
 


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