Hind believes present skill sets may not "cut the mustard" going forward and the challenge for IT managers is that they need to be more astute in business areas to get the respect of their business peers.

"You can't just have technical answers to problems; a can-do attitude is needed more than just looking for technical nirvana," he said, adding that where this gets contentious is how to manage or oversee IT if the person isn't technically competent.

"You may make decisions you can't deliver on," he said. "Then it becomes more about delegation to people who can answer those questions."

Hind said because business expectations are increasingly short-term, the ability to manage corporate change is growing in importance.

"IT people may be natural leaders but they won't get there by talking technology," he said. "The people who have impressed me the most had an appreciation of the detail without being bogged down with it. They had a long-term vision for the organization, and always wanted to understand the business goals and a broader view." According to Hind, another challenge is that many business people have a view that IT lives for IT alone. Hind said there was a danger of trying to "pull the technical wool over management eyes" but now people aren't intimidated by IT.