A robust and largely stable infrastructure is important he argues, because of the need for a flexible and timely approach to the delivery of new front-end systems - at least in his industry where information requirements are in constant flux. Information needs change so dramatically in the business, explains Minehan, that it is important to know the core systems are going to be able to support new applications. For many organisations, the emergence of componentised software architectures and business process management software may prove an ally, and will likely aid with rapid rollouts .

Minehan, like Wee, also stresses how important it is for the CIO to have a good grasp of the business strategy."CIOs need a clear understanding of the business strategy and quite often the CIOs operate without sufficient understanding of the vision. Sometimes that is because the users can't fully enunciate what they need," Minehan says.

"A key to successful execution is to understand the value proposition. There's always a degree of the nice-to-haves. But [CIOs] need to understand the value proposition", which, he argues, will let them decide which parts of a program have to be executed first and fastest. At PwC, to help bridge any understanding gap between IT and the business units, cross-functional teams, user groups and steering committees are created and are involved throughout the execution phase.

Michael Gullick, the IT manager of law firm Abbott Tout, reinforces that need to align the IT strategy with the organisation's business model. Unsurprisingly it was the mantra of all the CIOs interviewed for this article.

Gullick notes also that however well the business model is understood by the CIO, a project can only succeed if it has the support of not just the management but the people who will use it."Successful execution results from end-user acceptance," he says."From an information technology viewpoint, execution is the crucial stage of a project whereby end-user acceptance can ultimately decide its success or failure."

It is something which can challenge the skills of a CIO and demands much more from them than just technical know-how.

"The structure that I have created, by moving away from the reliance on outside suppliers and having a team of in-house professionals support the organisation's IT infrastructure, requires that a good part of my day is spent dealing with people management issues," says Gullick."The ability to explain my strategy to people throughout the organisation who have a diverse understanding of information technology is paramount to its acceptance and understanding.

"Being sensitive to the political issues that may arise through the execution of my strategy assists in removing any obstacles to a successful implementation. Generally I find that by providing strategy that is focused on enhancing the operations of the organisation, the political issues can be side-stepped," Gullick adds.

Bossidy and Charan also recognise this need to embrace the end users - and go as far in their book as to propose that it might be worth turning the entire vision thing on its head, and have senior management go down to the end users themselves to explore how they think things could be changed to provide a benefit in a bottom-up vision plan. It is a strategy that served well GE's legendary former leader Jack Welch.

"These days we're hearing a more practical phrase on the lips of business leaders. They're talking about taking their organisations to the Â'next level', which brings the rhetoric down to earth. GE CEO Jeff Immelt, for example, is asking his people how they can use technology to differentiate their way to the next level and command better prices, margins and revenue growth," Bossidy and Charan say in their book."This is an execution approach to change. Its reality-based people can envision and discuss specific things they need to do. It recognises that meaningful change comes only with execution."