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CFOs look to up IT spend in 2014

Gleaning more value from data, and driving down costs are the key aspects of increased IT investment in 2014

CFOs ARE LOOKING to invest more in new technology in the coming year, according to a survey by American Express.

More than three-quarters (76%) of the 150 UK and US CFOs surveyed said they planned to increase IT spend in the coming year, with four in ten looking to up investment by more than 10%.

Nine out of ten (92%) agreed with the premise that their business needs to extract more value from the financial and operating data it holds.

Technology investment will primarily be made to cut costs, according to half of the respondents, with the other half looking to use IT to glean insight from data.

Mobile technology will be a big focus for business in the next year, said the CFOs, but there are differences in strategy. A quarter has a formal plan in place to deploy mobile tech, with 32% having an ad-hoc approach.

Accessing up-to-the-minute data is the top goal for 33% of respondents, with 22% looking to improve data sharing in real-time.

Just one in five (22%) said adopting the cloud was a top priority for implementation in 2014, with security concerns the main barrier for adoption. However, more than half (52%) believe this issue will abate over the next five years.

Brendan Walsh, senior vice president and general manager, American Express Global Corporate Payments, Europe, “Data and how it’s managed is of critical importance to the UK’S CFOs who clearly recognise the power of data to drive value for their organisations. Whilst there’s a definite appetite for new technologies, and the benefits that they can bring to a company’s profitability, the challenge for financial decision-makers now is to develop a clear strategy to implementing new technologies to generate further insights and efficiencies.”

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