Computerworld - Mike Scardina has been the chief financial officer for IT at Allstate Insurance Co. for nearly 10 years. But it's only in the past few years that the spotlight on his role has intensified. Allstate's annual technology spending has swelled to more than $1 billion a year, and Scardina has come under enormous pressure from senior management to help cost-justify the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer's technology investments.
"It's not enough to say we're going to spend $150 million on a data center. People will ask, 'Well, yeah, but why $150 million and not $75 million?'" he says.
As IT spending has soared to half of all capital expenditures at many companies, so-called CFOs of IT are being required by top brass to provide greater clarity and transparency around those investments.
"I define my role this way: to determine and explain to senior management what AIG is spending on IT and to provide reasonable assurance that expectations are being met," says Joseph Barkley, CFO at AIG Technology Management Services, the IT services arm of New York-based insurance giant American International Group Inc.
Changing Roles
Indeed, the roles for CFOs of IT have changed. "The scope of my role has expanded well beyond managing and controlling IT budgets since 2002," says Grant Zaichick, head of IS controlling for the Americas at DHL Information Services (Americas) Inc., the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based IT services arm of transportation and logistics provider DHL International Ltd. In addition to overseeing IT accounting and budgeting, Zaichick has recently taken on responsibility for global IT reporting and IT contracts and asset management for the Americas region.
The IT CFO's position "is changing from a custodial/tactical role to more of a strategic role," says Howard Rubin, executive vice president at Stamford, Conn.-based Meta Group Inc. "They're in the nexus of negotiations."
Mike Scardina, CFO of IT at Allstate Insurance
Image Credit: Andy Goodwin
For starters, it's still a universal challenge -- even for financial wizards -- to effectively measure and quantify the impact that technology investments are having on profits or operational efficiency. Add to that the dearth of tools available to attempt those measurements. Finally, throw in the complexities of developing a standardized approach to valuing IT investments across multiple business divisions or regions, and it's a wonder that IT controllers can do their jobs at all.
Unaccountable
Measuring the quantifiable impact of
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