When I began my conversation with Jim Anderson, founder of Blue Elephant Consulting who has worked with CIOs for over 20 years, I had just a single question: What is the deal with CIOs?

  Some further thoughts and ruminations on the Sun deal...

CIOs have worked hard to earn respect in the C suite, and it's paying off, according to a study released today by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Apparently, many CIOs have been successful at demonstrating the strategic importance of technology. A healthy percentage (44 percent) of companies surveyed intend to be "on the business offense" in the year ahead by, for instance, seeking acquisitions or taking advantage of the recession by trying to gain market share over the competition. Such firms are more likely to invest in technology even in these lean economic times.