Rapid transformation marks CIOs' careers and their impact on companies, according to InformationWeek's 2007 Defining the CIO research survey of 575 senior business and technology professionals. CIOs are in overdrive and are finally earning recognition as indispensable business visionaries. Their role in shaping business strategy marks a notable shift in responsibilities that's literally redefining what a CIO is and counters the critics who question the value of IT.

For complete details on this 6th annual research survey, email Scott Vaughan.

CIOs are increasingly being counted on to help business leaders—from CXOs to line-of-business managers—make their companies more agile and customer-centric. Contributing to this trend is trust in technology and the IT department to aggressively transform the business. Other critical factors include a CEO who "gets it," a CIO with the well-rounded skills to be a trusted business leader, and a CIO who spends a good deal of time communicating with constituents—both internal and external customers.

Despite these very encouraging developments, the survey also showed that companies and their CIOs still continue to focus a fair amount of their attention on how to migrate away from "maintenance IT" and into "innovation IT" and how to find and retain top talent.

Email Scott Vaughan to find out more about this qualitative research, as well as to discuss:

• State of Market – It's a Customer-Driven, Digital World
• The Re-Defined Role of the CIO and the Business Technology organization
• Roadmap to CIO Effectiveness & what it means for your communications programs
• Marketing Best Practices – Engaging & Building Relationships with "CIOs"