Know how technology impacts your industry. In 2006, Guido Sacchi, CIO and VP of corporate strategy of CompuCredit, a direct marketer of branded credit cards, established an innovation committee. There he, the CFO, CEO and other business heads meet to discuss new ideas. Last year, the committee decided to look into entering the mobile phone market. "The CFO's role was to ask: 'Can we afford this?' The head of business development asked: 'What is the market potential?'" says Sacchi. "My role was to ask: 'Can we operationalize this? Can we make it happen?'"

When Sacchi came back to the committee with a plan for implementing the new business idea, his CEO offered him the reins. While retaining his CIO title, Sacchi is now the senior operations executive and P&L manager for the new business, which will launch later this year.

"CIOs should capitalize on the fact that the technology content of products and services in every industry is increasing," says Sacchi. "The credit card may disappear with its functions embedded in some other device. Financial services are now offered in virtual networks like Second Life." CIOs intent on business innovation and revenue generation need to stay on top of how technology is permeating their industries. And it doesn't hurt to establish and lead an innovation committee that is poised to turn new ideas into action.

Pick the right company. As technology moves to the core of all businesses, CIOs will have a better shot at creating revenue-generating products if they pick a company that embraces its technological destiny. Like all of the companies mentioned here, Advanced Health Media is not, strictly speaking, a technology company. Its business is in managing promotional events for pharmaceutical companies, and it uses technology to fulfil that goal. In the process of supporting this business objective, CIO Greg Miller created a new technology product, a tool that tracks every transaction for every promotional dollar spent by its customers, that will begin generating direct revenue over the next 12 months. Serendipity? Not at all. Miller made sure going in that this was a company that would allow him to move seamlessly between internal systems and new customer products.

"Prior to this position, I owned a software company, and Advanced Health Media was a client of mine," says Miller. "The founder of the company told me that he liked my approach and that he wanted to lead with technology."

In nearly every industry, the divide between technology and a company's core product line is decreasing by the minute. The time is now for CIOs intent on moving into "the business" to capitalize on this shift and start producing revenue. Show your CEO the money, and chances are good that he will show you a terrific new career opportunity in return.

Martha Heller is managing director of the IT Leadership Practice at ZRG, an executive recruiting firm based in Boston. Reach her at mheller@zrgroup.com