CFO education series: Helping network managers alleviate obstacles around cloud computing

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By Jim Cavanaugh, HP Financial Services

Several months ago, at a customer event, an IT network manager voiced this obstacle: her company was plotting a path to a hybrid cloud environment, but there was some resistance from the finance organization. In her company, the CIO reported to the CFO, so this was more than just an inconvenience. It was a deal-breaker unless they could bring the CFO and other senior finance managers on board.

Cloud challenges that every CFO and network manager can relate to

A colleague of mine asked for more detail, and her response made a lot of sense. The CFO, while recognizing the benefit of moving capital expenses to operational expenses, was concerned about the unpredictability of these expenses. He was also concerned about how the infusion of shadow IT that comes along with a cloud structure might increase their costs and risks.

I later found out that this network manager’s problem was not unusual. IT and finance in companies all over the word are struggling to come together to best plan for cloud to realize the benefits that model can bring. It is, in part, why HP developed an education series for CFOs. The platform includes whitepapers and videos highlighting the areas CFOs need to think about, as well as a roundtable series where CFOs can share their concerns and best practices.

One of the people living this challenge is HP’s own CFO, Cathie Lesjak. According to Cathie, the issues and risks CFOs are concerned about are legitimate but not insurmountable. The best way to embrace the opportunities that Cloud brings is to have a technology roadmap that’s completely aligned to the financial roadmap so that both organizations can plan for the impact. Watch this video interview with Cathie where she talks about what every CFO should know about cloud.

Aligning technology and finance roadmaps for your cloud journey

If you are like the IT network manager I mentioned, HP’s educational series would no doubt be helpful to your CFO. It can help you understand the issues at hand. It’s probably the first step in following Cathie’s advice to align the technology roadmap with the finance roadmap. The last step then is to live happily in the cloud!

>> Learn more about the CFO education series.

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