3. I'm facing a mountain of open reqs. Should I enlist the help of a third-party recruiter or beef up internal recruiting resources?

Enlist all the help you can.

Internal HR resources can be a great help, particularly when you're desperately seeking talented employees to plug sudden vacancies. But an HR generalist may not be enough, as his knowledge of IT-specific needs is likely limited. Many CIOs have seen value in hiring an HR resource specifically for the IT department or a corporate resource that is dedicated — at least part-time — to technology recruiting, hiring and retention. In smaller companies where that may not be feasible, extra communication and due diligence when working with HR are key.

"If this is a short-term need to catch up, it might make sense to bring in a third-party recruiter," says Gartner's Berry. "Many folks may want to keep the more strategic side of HR within the organization and outsource the more tactical work." Making the best use of external recruiters takes some extra effort as well. "It's very important that you get a good recruiter that understands your enterprise, IT organization, culture and the jobs for which you are recruiting," says Berry. "They will be your face to candidates."

That means you and your hiring managers must work to keep third-party recruiters in the loop on staffing strategy and needs. Penske CIO Pickett, a former president of the Society for Information Managers (SIM), says a lot of CIOs in that organization use external help for filling high-level roles. "But for most positions the use of internal staff that understands internal desires works best," he says.

The holy grail is just-in-time hiring. Working closely with HR experts (not just when you need them, but long before you do) will help you develop and maintain a solid network of potential hires and help avoid a mad scramble just to fill a spot.