Add to that the pressure to save money by outsourcing more and more IT, and CEOs wonder why they should pay someone a hefty six-figure salary and bonus just to piece together these seemingly simple IT parts.

"Put yourself in the shoes of a CEO," suggests Hon CIO Fields."They're asking, Do I really need a CIO, and if I do, why not report it lower in the organization and let the CFO handle it as a cost matter?"

What CIOs Can Do

For the most part, say analysts, CIOs haven't helped matters in the way they're responding to the current crisis in their corporate status. "Their scope of operating has been cut back, and most of them are holding on for dear life," says Mark Lutchen, lead partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers' IT business risk management practice. "They're told to cut costs, and they take out the machete. They're in survival mode, doing what they're told, reporting to whomever they're told to."

Glassen admits it. "When everything started becoming very expense-oriented, we withdrew," he says. "If we had been more involved and proactive sooner, maybe users and executives would be involving us more."

What does it mean to be proactive?