You will find several new blog posts from global thought leaders and articles around the topic of reinvigorating IT and the CIO role this month. It's not an entirely new topic, but there does seem to be renewed pressure and urgency to get it right this time. IT has value to the enterprise, that's not disputed. But demonstrating that value and making smart investments that will pay short and long-term dividends for the business, are now at stake.

I was intrigued by consultant Pete DeLisi's premise that Strategic CIOs are still hard to find--even after decades of data and reports saying how critical big-picture thinking is for IT executives. How can that be? Do you agree that long-term planning and goal-setting are still key parameters?

My own feeling is that the pace of business today requires new definitions of strategy and new metrics to assess IT success. Three- and even two-year plans are nearly impossible to follow anymore; flexibility trumps goal-setting in nearly every situation, in my view. CIOs must jump in with both feet.

Cranfield School of Management professor Joe Peppard also tackles IT performance issues in his blog where he concludes that, "At the fundamental level, we seem to have a “knowing-doing”  gap. We know what needs to be done to improve success levels, but the doing just doesn’t happen." That seems clear, however, he too, suggests a traditional approach to solving the problem: better business cases. My sense again is that following better processes alone won't close the gap.

A prime example of a CIO who has revitalized IT and restored credibility and leadership to his role is Steven Elefant, at Heartland Payments. Heartland's experience is as real-world as it gets in today's IT/ business environment. Steven was hired in 2009 after a series of highly publicized major data breaches rocked Heartland’s business and its credibility. His mission was to revamp the organization’s approach to end-to-end encryption — a game-changer for the company. As Steven told our writer, Karen Schwartz, the opportunity “was about taking security to the next level, both in the company and in the industry.”

The story goes on to say that Elefant’s accomplishments are what many CIOs aspire to — using technology as a tool to move the company forward. The most successful CIOs, says Scott Archibald, a Managing Director at Bender Consulting, run their departments like business units and “can navigate the political battles in the boardroom [and] leverage technology for the business,” he says. For many CIOs, “it’s a difficult transition to make,” he says, “and it’s still fairly uncommon.” Nevertheless, that’s “what sets apart the top-notch CIOs from the others.”

Increasingly, there's no playbook for CIOs to follow; each is on their own to match available IT to the business' needs. Some may rely on 'strategic planning,' others fluidly tackle one major issue at a time--either way, results are what matter.

What's your game plan to revitalize your role in 2011? Please share your thoughts and experiences with your peers.