4. Support third-party vendors. The struggles of third-party ERP maintenance provider Tomorrow Now (which competed with, then was bought by and is now being sold by SAP) raises the question of why more CIOs don't support independent maintenance providers. Are CIOs so dependent on a vendor's feature upgrades in subsequent product versions that they give in to vendors' threats to withhold them if maintenance is cancelled? Think about whether you really want those upgrades. IT execs can band together to find the capital to fund third-party services and products they need to sustain their independence and leverage. There could be more tools out there for reverse engineering processes, data and reports from enterprise apps, which in turn could enable switching vendors if service declines or prices rise following an acquisition.

Instead, CIOs appear to be maintaining their victim status with an "Oh well, they've got us" stance. That's surprising in light of their inadvertent and growing vendor dependency and the inevitable costs and risks that result.

5. Assess your portfolio for acquisition probability. Finally, take a close look at your portfolio to identify your greatest vulnerabilities. Figure out which software products are likely to be acquired - putting future product innovation at risk - and specify contractually any code escrow terms that preserve your options.

The end result? Those business constituents will be happy to hear that you will leave them alone to use Cognos or Hyperion or whatever application they want. Now, if only they will agree on the proposed standard definition of a customer name and address.

Laurie Orlov does research and consulting on business and technology strategy. She is a former vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research