Cloud computing uptake offers the prospect of a completely new way of provisioning IT so it might pay to work on understanding it now, especially as cost saving is a key promise of the model.

"Some organisations are already well down the road but the mainstream will be still in the trough of disillusionment," Mahoney says. "The cloud is susceptible to the conclusion that this is not terribly productive in the short term. Our strong feeling is that this is not something you can leave until later."

Theme Three: Survive in 2009 without collateral damage

7. Stop ignoring people and opting for soft targets

It's natural that CIOs will pressurised to take decisive action and the natural, default option will be to cut long-term projects. However, there may be a away to keep on visionaries.