Quelle: CIO, USA

You used to pity Lloyd Taylor. Like other CIOs who work for companiesin low-margin industries, he was the guy with the shoestring budgetwho had to watch every penny, every day.

Well, guess what? Taylor, the CIO at Cargill, a global manufacturerand distributor of agricultural and food products, is now a role modelin these tighter budget times. Cargill may be a $49 billion company interms of revenues, but it cleared a profit margin of seven-tenths of 1percent, less than one penny on the dollar, in 2000. So while you'verecently recalibrated your expectations about IT spending to fit arecession, Taylor has had to master the ability to do more withless - regardless of the economic cycle.

"There's only so much money to go around, and you have to make sureevery dollar is well spent," Taylor says.

Taylor uses his words like he uses his company's money: He prefers notto talk at length about frugal spending tactics. But keep hisstatement - and the remarks by other CIOs you will find in thisstory - in your pocket. They're coins that carry lessonsabout value.