Then everything changes again, as it has in today's new era of mobility, cloud and consumer technologies. Suddenly, those slow-moving legacy vendors can't help your business keep up, let alone get ahead of competitors.

"A lot of startups are not only solving the newest problems out there," says CIO Ben Haines of Pabst Brewing, "they're solving them at a faster rate." Haines is one of the CIOs featured in our cover story (" "), which examines the good, the bad and the occasionally ugly outcomes of this risky business of relying on startups.

The upsides can be considerable. Reasonable pricing. Simpler contracts. Faster implementation. Greater influence over product design. Access to leading-edge technology that delivers a competitive edge.

"Startups are a good way to experiment at the edges of your priorities and position your company as an innovator," says William Hsu, co-founder of startup accelerator MuckerLabs.

"A lot of my peers are too risk-averse. They want to make the absolute safest choice," adds Rob Duchscher, CIO of Starkey Industries. "Safe choices lead to a culture of status quo. And status quo, especially today, can make it hard to survive and remain profitable."