---
titel: "IT for executive management: CEO and CFO · SACOSI"
url: https://sacosi.ch/en/leadership
seite: /en/leadership
stand: 2026-09-24
beschreibung: "Why CEOs and CFOs should care about IT: growth, company value, cost control, CAPEX and OPEX. A situation picture instead of technical reports, from Zürich."
---

> Knowledge version of the page https://sacosi.ch/en/leadership. It contains the full text, including what is shortened or collapsible on the page itself. Publisher: SACOSI, Situational Awareness Consulting by Ivo Schönberner, Zürich.

# Why you should care about IT as CEO or CFO.

**Short answer:** Because from around ten employees onwards, IT co-determines how fast your company can grow, what it is worth and what it costs. The CEO asks about growth and company value, the CFO about oversight, control and the right ratio of investment to ongoing expenditure. I bring both questions together into one situation picture and prepare the decisions so that you can make them without being a technology expert.

## Why one page for CEO and CFO together?

Because the two questions only have an answer together: growth costs money, and cost control without a growth plan saves in the wrong place.

In almost every IT decision, the interests of the CEO and the CFO collide. Viewed separately, the louder side wins. In the situation picture, both sit side by side, together with the interests of IT management, quality management, oversight and investors.

| Who | Wants | Asks |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | Growth and company value | Does the IT support the plan for the next 24 months, and does it increase or reduce the value of the company? |
| CFO | Oversight, control, CAPEX and OPEX matching the financial strategy | What does IT really cost, who approved it, and does the model fit our financing? |
| IT management | Calm and stable operations | How do I keep operations stable while everyone wants something new at the same time? |
| Quality management | Compliance | Which standard applies to us, and where is the evidence that we meet it? |
| Oversight and auditors | Evidence | Can you prove what you claim, versioned and approved? |
| Investors | Know the risk, protect value | Which IT risks am I buying into, and what does it cost to fix them? |

## What does IT have to do with growth and company value?

IT co-determines whether a growth plan can be implemented on time and whether a review by investors or buyers ends without a discount.

- **Speed:** New locations, markets and products only launch as fast as identities, workplaces, data and processes can keep up.
- **Value:** In a due diligence, knowledge held by individuals, missing evidence and outdated systems stand out as risks.
- **Customers:** Larger customers demand security evidence before they sign.
- **Markets:** Every new market brings its own rules, from data protection to industry regulations.
- **Evidence:** Working in a conformant way is not the same as being certified. In supplier assessments and customers' security questionnaires, the difference still matters a great deal, because a certificate creates trust without a review of your own.

## How does a CFO gain control over IT costs?

With an overview that assigns every IT item to a business purpose, an owner and a form of financing.

- **Overview:** all contracts, licences and services in one place, with term and notice period.
- **Control:** approvals in the decision log, traceable for audit and the board of directors.
- **CAPEX and OPEX:** whether investment or ongoing expenditure, decided by exit horizon, investor type, liquidity and financing stage, not by habit.
- **Risk:** outages, security incidents and fines as a cost item, before they occur.

## CAPEX or OPEX: what fits our financing?

There is no fixed rule. The choice depends on exit horizon, valuation logic, liquidity and investor type.

In a valuation based on EBITDA multiples, ongoing expenditure (OPEX) reduces EBITDA and therefore tends to reduce the multiple value, whereas capitalised investments (CAPEX) do not directly burden EBITDA. CAPEX, however, ties up liquidity, burdens free cash flow and creates assets with their own useful life that a buyer shortly before an exit often does not pay for in full, or discounts in due diligence. The IT still has to meet the requirements of the business and remain robust, regardless of how it is financed.

### Short exit horizon, exit-oriented investor

Tendency OPEX. Depends on: whether a buyer pays for the investment, the effect on EBITDA under the multiple, the lock-in an investment creates.

### Short exit horizon, long-term-oriented investor (e.g. a family office with no pressure to exit)

Weigh up. Depends on: whether the platform holds beyond the point of exit and who remains the owner afterwards.

### Long investment horizon, exit planned only in several years

Weigh up. Depends on: the valuation method at the actual point of exit (multiple, free cash flow or substance) and the condition of the assets at the time of sale.

### Long investment horizon, long-term-oriented investor

CAPEX negotiable. Depends on: liquidity, useful life of the platform, effect on free cash flow.

This assessment does not replace a conversation with your fiduciary services provider or your CFO. It shows which questions need to be clarified before the decision.

## Which support fits your situation?

### [Fractional CTO for a defined period](https://sacosi.ch/en/fractional-cto)

Technical leadership for a defined period: architecture, team, security, due-diligence readiness. The goal is the handover to a permanent CTO or your own team.

### [Compliance roadmap](https://sacosi.ch/en/regulation)

Which standards and laws apply to your business, in what order you should address them, and how the evidence is created in an auditable system, for example for ISO 27001, ISO 9001 or TISAX.

### [Scaling architecture](https://sacosi.ch/en/it-architecture)

A target architecture without legacy baggage that supports the planned growth: identity, workplace, cloud, local AI, cost in proportion to the budget.

### [Sparring for executive management and the board of directors](https://sacosi.ch/en/leadership)

The second opinion before budget is committed: platform choice, IT budget, sourcing, assessment of a project. Usually in a few sessions.

All offerings follow the same method: Situational Awareness. The situation first, then the IT. The method from the perspective of the [CEO](https://sacosi.ch/en/situational-awareness?rolle=ceo#ceo) and from the perspective of the [CFO](https://sacosi.ch/en/situational-awareness?rolle=cfo#cfo).

## Questions from executive management.

### Why should a CEO care about IT?

Because from a certain size onwards, IT co-determines how fast the company can grow and what it is worth. Whether new locations, markets or products launch on time, whether customer data is secure and whether a due diligence goes through without a discount depends on decisions that would otherwise be made without executive management.

### Why should a CFO care about IT?

Because IT ties up money, creates ongoing costs and carries risks that appear on no balance sheet until they occur. Whether a solution is financed as an investment (CAPEX) or as ongoing expenditure (OPEX) belongs to the financial strategy, not just to procurement.

### What does a situation picture give executive management?

One page on which goals, core processes, finances, stakeholders, obligations and the current IT stand together. Executive management sees which IT supports which goal, where the risks lie and which decision is next.

### Do we need a full-time CIO or CTO for this?

Not necessarily. Many growing companies need leadership capacity for a defined period: clarify the situation, set the direction, put the team and partners in place, and then hand over. That is the core of a fractional CTO engagement.

### How does Ivo Schönberner report to executive management and the board of directors?

With decision papers instead of technical reports: occasion, options, costs, risks and recommendation, recorded in the decision log. The decision stays with executive management.

### Should we plan IT as CAPEX or OPEX before an exit?

That depends on the exit horizon, the valuation logic and the investor type, not on a fixed rule. With a short exit horizon, you avoid investments that a buyer often does not pay for, and you manage the effect on EBITDA deliberately, because a multiple-based valuation treats ongoing expenditure differently from capitalised investments. With a long-term investor, CAPEX for a platform that holds for years is negotiable. The financial strategy sets this framework, not IT alone.

### What is the difference between conformant and certified?

Conformant means that procedures and evidence meet the substantive requirements of a standard such as ISO 27001 or ISO 9001. Certified means that an external auditor has formally confirmed this. For your own management, conformity may be enough; in supplier assessments and customers' security questionnaires, however, a certificate often makes the difference as to whether a tender proceeds at all.

## What is the situation in your executive management?

Thirty minutes, no pitch. You describe the situation, I ask questions. After that, we both know whether a situation picture is worthwhile.

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