CIOs are expected to have excellent operational performance and still add ‘value’ to the business. What this means is that CIOs need to be both in control of and let go of processes. Let’s take cloud computing as an example: it can be the CIO’s worst nightmare or biggest value-creator for business. Allowing business the freedom to do what it wants is critical. However, it’s vital that governance and the architecture are adhered to.

If CIOs continue to be controlling, they will be isolated and bypassed, which is why they have to be creative to succeed.