Sleek tech stacks are trending in 2023. The layers of software, hardware, and digital platforms to build business performance can be a huge asset, but also require constant attention. In tumultuous economic times, small- and medium-sized businesses have increased their 2023 core tech stack spend by 13.7% over last year, and 75% of CFOs planned to increase capital spending on tech in 2023.
CIO, CDO, and CTO = Your BFFs
If you’re on the struggle bus with your tech stack, at least you’re not solo. Nearly half of CFOs report they lack full visibility into spend data across their company, three in five CFOs consult multiple systems to find decision-relevant data, one third of CFOs lament that the processes are still very hands-on, 36% say no plans exist to recover data in the event of technology failure, and only 37% have a clearly-defined digital investment strategy. Data visibility, speed, automation, and resilience in your tech stack are critical and it’s often tricky to balance maintenance of what you have with the allure of new technologies.
Enlist the help of your Chief Information Officer, Chief Data Officer, and Chief Technology Officer to take inventory and help sort through the advice and options, including outsourcing some functions not in your enterprise wheelhouse. Before you spend that 13.7% above last year’s line-item, assess whether components of your tech stack could be optimized and integrated, where redundancies lie, and which vendors might fill the gaps.
Traditional FP&A matters will always deserve your attention. But find time on your agenda to geek out with any and all available tech stack gurus.
“The average enterprise has 927 applications, and less than thirty percent of those are integrated…. The tech stack isn’t broken. It just needs to be optimized.”
– Tiffani Bova, Global Growth and Innovation Evangelist, Salesforce
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