We can find ourselves hostage to a person in IT who alone holds access to key programs and data. How do you prevent such a vulnerability, and what do you do if it’s too late? Here are three practical plans to work through.

Boards don’t want to get caught in a crisis, let alone one in which they were warned but caught unprepared. Boards need to challenge the paradigms by which they think of security, increase their knowledge of security as a business strategy, and respond with concerted management, strengthened posture and preparation.

The CIO is here to stay. They are the bridge for customer experience, business priority and technology solution. Most of all, they teach everyone how to think differently, not just to know more.

Decisions are never meant to be made in a void, and information alone isn’t education. Wisdom is the pool in which information and context swim together. Very few board members have technology experience. Less than 10% have technology subcommittees from which to draw. What is a board to do?

Yes, Geeks love money and time-off and other physical perks, but that is not what drives them and keeps them. Instead, most Geek-work is driven by creative problem solving. The C-Suite Executive who keeps their Geeks geeking out are the ones who offer multiple motivations built around this single core.

It’s difficult to know the answer in the changing landscape of digital transformation and the roles of C-Suite Executives. The CIO is now being seen more as the right hand to the CEO. But does that mean everything the CIO contends for is worth the investment?