After years of recession-based caution, and with no end in sight, reduced IT budgets will become the new norm in 2012, forcing CIOs to ‘just get on with it’, according to industry analysts IDC.

Analyst Rasika Versleijen-Pradhan says organisations and service providers alike will have to ‘seek opportunities that not only make business sense but also capture the innovative element that will make organisations stand out in the competitive ecosystem’.

"2012 looks set to be another economically uncertain year,” Versleijen-Pradhan says.

"Ultimately it will require SPs to rethink their aspirations and capabilities in the market, forcing some organisations to move out of their comfort zones.”

A recent IDC study found that despite IT projects becoming more strategic and transformational, over a third of CEOs still have no involvement with their IT departments.

"Based on the research findings a perception remains that a significant proportion of CEOs lack any involvement in these strategic projects, and in cases where CEOs do get involved it is often limited to a funding approval role,” Versleijen-Pradhan says.

"There is a real drive from CIOs to change the stereotypical view of IT’s role within the organisation to one that is visionary, innovative and business driven, but many organisations are yet to see the CIO become an integral part of the executive management team and business strategy.”

How's the CEO-CIO relationship at your organisation? Does the CEO take an interest in what the IT department is up to, and is the CIO an integral part of the management team? Post your comments below.