Stories by: Diane Frank

Lori Beer can talk technology as well as any IT staffer. While rising through the ranks to executive vice president and CIO at insurance giant WellPoint, she could dive into any discussion about software development or hardware standards. But her job demands more than technical savvy. Accordingly, she has moulded her skills and those of her top team to help WellPoint achieve its business strategy—redefining how the company interacts with hospitals, doctors and patients in the new era of healthcare.

A chance elective in college brought Jackie Lucas into IT, but a passion for people led her to become a CIO.

The old adage "no risk, no reward" speaks closely to Larry Pickett's career path to becoming CIO at Purdue Pharma. Moving out of Glaxo (GSK) , and leaving behind years at a top company in his field, was the chance he had to take to become the leader he wanted to be.

Within five years of moving into IT management, Jay Kerley found his purpose: working with the business to affect business outcomes and results. And he set his sights on the CIO role when it became clear that the best way to create change and effect a business impact on as wide a scale as possible is to have that executive-level, strategic role. "With a CIO's cross-division view of processes, you are in the position to shift and turn the company," says Kerley, who was promoted to the position of deputy CIO at Applied Materials in 2009.

All it took for Michael Whitmer to know that IT was the place he wanted to be was a visit to IBM (IBM) in eighth grade. Surrounded by green-screen terminals and row upon row of tapes, he was hooked. Being fortunate enough in 1978 to attend the only high school in his county to offer computer classes solidified the calling. "It's the immediate satisfaction that you get from technology," he says. "You know when you write a program whether it works or not, and that's a fundamental driving force." Through high school, he pushed and prodded to find opportunities, then majored in computer science in college and found a co-op opportunity with AT&T that enabled him to work in the field while still in school. But having that passion for technology didn't fully prepare him for being a CIO.

Outsourcing boomed over the last decade. So it's not surprising that a lot of incoming CIOs are inheriting some crummy outsourcing contracts. These deals are potential hornet's nests if not handled quickly and carefully. CIO Executive Council members who have dealt with this issue point to renewed governance and realigned expectations as the key to turning around these situations. They offer the following solutions.

CIOs know how to manage their own careers - few reach such lofty heights without mapping out some kind of a campaign. But what about succession planning? How many CIOs think about how their own career plans affect the prospects of those around them and the future of their companies?

After you, who? To create a culture of succession in your shop use this checklist to lay the foundation