Just 48 percent of UK CIOs sit on the board, according to research sponsored by Progress Software. The survey polled 500 senior managers and CIOs across Europe and found that the UK is lagging behind other countries. For example, in France, the figure is 69 percent.

A possible consequence is that CIOs tend to be brought into strategic processes only after decisions have been made on a business level.  "In only 13% of cases are business strategies only signed off if IT has committed to it, compared to 35% of cases where strategies are determined and then IT is brought in to help deliver."

My own experience, based on interviewing several dozen senior IT managers and CIOs in big British companies bears this out, at least on an anecdotal basis. Some of my CIO interviewees were tightly bound into business decision making; for example influencing company acquisitions based on IT synergy (or lack of it). In other companies, they were much more in the background and focused on 'keeping the lights on'.  

Because IT is so fundamental to business now, the ability to integrate IT into business decision-making as well as execution seems to be a fundamental requirement for ambitious companies. I've been clipping lots of articles about CIOs and what I call the silicon ceiling.  More on this topic soon.