The executive, Thys Coetzee, an IT director in Eden Prairie, responded with the common sense that tends to be typical of people from the Upper Midwest.

"CFOs are supposed to help the execs see what the of any decision are, IT execs included. It is a team effort to take an organization forward after that," Coetzee said. "I backed off on a highly important IT project just the other day because the CFO could show me an extremely sensitive issue looming. Will we pay from a technology standpoint and at some risk to the company? No doubt in my mind. Was the CFO right to want me to hold off? With the data at hand, absolutely. Rocks and hard places are, after all, what IT is about."

Indeed, knowing when to back off is key to any CIO's survival at a time when even demonstrable ROI is no longer sufficient justification for an IT project. But even more critical to survival is knowing which projects to champion in the first place.

That's the conclusion I drew when I read this week's cover story, Tam Harbert's "." The article is meant to offer advice on "how to keep make-or-break IT initiatives off the chopping block in troubled times," but it would be a serious mistake to read it as some sort of battle plan for defending the IT kingdom.

Coetzee's emphasis on the as one that contributes to the decisions made by the executive team is echoed throughout the article. "The CIO is first and foremost a member of the management team," said Sunoco CIO Peter Whatnell. The CIO needs to focus on sustaining the company, not on buttressing the company's dependence on IT.