By Peter Krass

"These are the times that try men's souls." That line, written by Tom Paine in December 1776, still rings true, though for new reasons. Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, Paine's attention was focused on the American colonies' struggle for independence. If Paine were alive today, he would no doubt pay keen attention to the turmoil in the global economy.

What's all this got to do with CIOs? Plenty. For these are the times that try the souls of CIOs, too. In fact, if ever there was a time for CIOs to rise to the occasion, this is it. People in the IT industry have been speaking about the alignment of IT and the business for at least 20 years, ever since the creation of the CIO position. To be sure, during the boom years, aligning IT and the business was relatively easy. CIOs enjoyed growing budgets, full staffing and robust markets. But today, with economic turbulence swirling the globe like an angry tornado, the need for CIOs to deliver value to the business has become far more challenging — and more important — than at any time in recent memory.

This issue of Smart Enterprise focuses on showing CIOs and their IT organizations new ways to lead through and, ultimately, beyond today's economic challenges. We believe these challenges demand a new approach from CIOs. For this reason, our Special Report focuses on the new economics of IT. Techonomics represents a new way of thinking about the economics of IT, as well as about IT's leadership role within the enterprise.

Our cover story, by stalwart contributor Larry Lange, examines how leading CIOs employ Techonomics to steer their organizations through the difficult times. In Measuring IT, a new section, veteran IT journalist John Zipperer explores the new metrics of IT, demonstrating why the old ways of measuring IT's contribution to the business are obsolete and reporting on new, nontechnical measures CIOs can use now. Our CIO roundtable presents the highlights of a discussion on the new ways IT can drive business value in a challenging economy. This roundtable, conducted by Smart Enterprise Exchange, an exclusive IT executive members-only program, included IT leaders from three organizations—international insurer Aviva Group, sporting goods retailer Eastern Mountain Sports, and capital equipment supplier Toromont Industries.

CIOs will find a great deal more in this issue of Smart Enterprise, too. Taken together, the articles aim to assist CIOs as they guide and lead their organizations through today's economy. How about you? Are the times trying your soul? Or giving you an opportunity to try new leadership approaches? I welcome your answers, questions and other comments at the e-mail address below.

Peter Krass
Editor in Chief
editor@smartenterprisemag.com