It is believed the seeds of increasing interest in CIOs as board members preceded Sarbanes-Oxley. At the same time, it is thought that Sarbanes-Oxley is adding some fuel to that trend, both directly and indirectly. Directly, Sarbanes-Oxley requires boards to have a high degree of understanding and assurance of internal controls, many of which are documented and certified through an understanding of a corporation's information architecture, its application architecture, and its business processes and flows. The oversight and governance around internal controls that Sarbanes-Oxley requires definitely will be enhanced through an understanding of IT.

Understanding internal controls also means understanding business process management. Often, CIOs are process-oriented and understand program management and other elements that are involved in complying with Sarbanes-Oxley, so the Act has raised the bar in terms of the value of an astute information technology executive to a board.

There's a second, indirect way that Sarbanes-Oxley is adding more fuel to this trend. This entire area of corporate governance, inclusive of Sarbanes-Oxley, has put a lot of new responsibilities and pressures on board members with regard to their time commitment and the selectivity of being on boards. This is causing companies and executive recruiters to widen the circle of titles that would be considered for boards, inclusive of CIOs and CFOs and other positions. So, directly as well as indirectly, Sarbanes-Oxley is contributing to a heightened interest by corporate boards to bring CIOs to the table. Over time, with more businesspeople being CIOs, and CIOs rotating through the business, you'll also see the profile of the CIO change. More of them will have business experience over time, and the combination of business and technology expertise will make CIOs more attractive to boards. I predict you will see more CIOs being hired to serve on boards in the future.