Working as a Finance Director (FD) for a company where technology is at the core of what they do is a difficult job. It involves grappling over small buying decisions, whereas one department is requesting this and another is requesting that.
Where the difficulty lies is that no one is making a business case for why they need what they’re requesting.
It makes the FD role harder than it needs to be. The easy option is to just say no, but this always comes with backlash from those requesting budget. Therefore, it seems the only option is to go and research it all to make an informed decision.
There are many things that would make an FD role in a tech company easier; more control, less waste, more budget, not overspending etc., but actually achieving all of these feels near impossible.
In fact, for every new buying decision, you would probably be lucky to hit just one of these criteria! This is often the case for FDs when it comes to investing in the Cloud.
Upgrading Cloud servers when the development team come requesting is a tricky budget decision. There needs to be a level of control, understanding and a budget to upgrade. There is also a fear of over-provisioning and over-spending.
To have little waste, control is needed!
Cloud servers can be wasteful in different ways. It might mean paying for a server that isn’t actually used or needed or it could mean paying for a larger server than is needed. A common form of wastage when it comes to Cloud servers is paying for it when it’s not actually in use.
To avoid wastage when it comes to investing in servers, it’s important for developers to give the FD a business case for why they need what they’re asking for. If they are currently at full capacity on the servers they are already using, then upgrading might make sense.
If however, they can’t justify at all how a larger server might benefit them, is it truly a worthwhile budget investment or just a chance for more wastage?
Overspending is something businesses can’t afford to keep doing. It’s damaging and it shows a lack of control. But how can the FD keep on top of spending when they get a surprise bill for a cloud server that cost a lot more than they originally expected?
As much as everyone else in the business protests, budgets are there for a reason, and overspending is an unhealthy way to damage them.
Control is possibly the trickiest criteria to grasp. As someone in the business who doesn’t work directly on the technical side of the company, understanding and gaining control isn’t easy.
The easiest way to lose control is actually to blindly give out money based on a business case without knowing anything about what you’re investing in as a finance director. Then comes the surprise bill.
FDs can regain control by setting higher standards for the business case for new software and infrastructure being requested. The next time a developer comes goes to the FD and says: “We need a larger cloud server, the old one isn’t doing the job anymore”, the FD should ask for more information.
It’s important to know what capacity the development/IT team are currently running at and how much faster/better will the work be if the server is upgraded? Will the ROI increase with a larger server? Will there be more waste? These are all important questions to ensure the FD maintains some control.
Control is so difficult to maintain and keep. But when in control, the FD can start to get the other criteria. Waste can be reduced and cost can be controlled.
When it comes to Cloud servers, the Cloud Machine Manager (CMM) solution allows control, less waste and savings. Control is given by allowing users to turn the server on and off with scheduling and on-demand control and waste is reduced by making sure the user only pays for what is used. As CMM can help businesses save money, it allows them to stick to budget and even use the savings to upgrade!
Learn more about Cloud Machine Manager:
