There's an old joke among IT buyers: What's the difference between a software salesman and a used-car salesman? A used-car salesman knows when he's lying.

A bit cynical, yes, but reflective of the environment created by nightmare IT deals such as Oracle and the State of California, and recent data from CIO Magazine showing that an overwhelming seventy percent of CIOs expect better partnering experiences with systems integrators than vendors.

High-tech communications professionals hoping to influence a CIO's buying decision could easily be disheartened by the bleak picture, but when the industry's existence hinges on the stream of checks coming from the CIO's office, vendors can't avoid CIOs for long. As CIO Magazine reports, eighty percent of the US$50bn companies worldwide spend on reengineering is IT-specific and managed by CIOs.

This combination makes CIOs the ultimate CRM database contact and simultaneously the ultimate communications challenge. But while the assistant to the CIO may typically rank up there with Cerberus as one of the finest gatekeepers, there is evidence to suggest that engaging CIOs is not quite the Herculean task it appears. A recent survey by the Financial Times, for example, suggests that CIOs don't actually hate their vendors; it's just that the former is frequently misunderstood by the latter.

The Financial Times article "Changing Role of the CIO" highlights the fact that many CIOs feel caught in 'professional limbo'—somewhere between a future as strategic business planner and past glory as a computer specialist. While they are increasingly the engineers of business change, CIOs are still not beyond being summoned into the CEO's office to retrieve a corrupted Word file.

For communications strategists then, the key to creating programs that open doors—or at least keep CIOs turning the pages of InformationWeek—is a deeper understanding of the challenges associated with the CIO role and the priorities at the top of the CIO agenda.

Steve Astle, senior vice president of media research consultancy Context Analytics, surveys the latest worldwide writing on CIO's top priorities and offers some pearls of wisdom on the communications programs most likely to resonate with the ultimate IT budget holder.

• Focus on management disciplines, not demos - One might expect security or compliance to top the list of CIO priorities, but recent issues from the Financial Times and CIO Magazine highlight a quite different force as having the most powerful impact on the world (and priorities) of the CIO: a major shift in the role of the CIO away from technical planning and implementation towards strategic planning. While CIOs' roles already span technical, business and organizational remits, these findings clearly indicate that today's CIOs are as interested in discussions about people and financial management skills as they are cutting-edge product features. To stand out, focus your communications strategies accordingly.

• 'Upsell' the CIO, not just the software – In January, Gartner Executive Programs' (EXP) survey revealed that two-thirds of CIOs see themselves as 'at risk' based on the CEO's view of IT and its performance. Many are clearly still suffering from the IT hangover caused by the overspend/under-perform hype of the 1990s. Vendor communications teams have a key role to play here in helping CIOs report their successes with case studies that speak of business enablement, not just cost reduction.

• Sell fear and fear resolution (it still works) – When it comes to a specific technology issue, security is still the top dog in the world of the CIO. Consistent with the many security-driven headlines that dominate the IT press, a recent CIO survey by European IT news portal Silicon.com revealed that ninety percent of respondents considered IT expenditure on email security their top priority in 2005. Eighty percent ranked expenditure on anti-spam, monitoring and antivirus technology equally highly. As HYPERtext Issue 2 reported, smart vendors are not necessarily those who capitalize on fear about specific risks, but those who recognize the opportunities such risks inhibit and focus on removing the barriers to success. In other words, sell the vision, not the journey.

• Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes – Change isn't a new theme in business. If anything, it is the theme in every business, and CIOs, more than most, have become change leaders, spending an estimated US$40bn on reengineering. While CIOs aren't necessarily driving that change, they are central to it. Vendors who demonstrate both an understanding of the issues surrounding IT change and an ability to manage and minimize organizational change on behalf of CIOs will offer a compelling proposition.

• The 'O' word – Whether it's larceny on a grand scale by Indian call center employees (Citibank) or negative press resulting from offshoring-related job cuts (HSBC, Delta, Wachovia, Bank of America), outsourcing and the management of outsourced teams remain two of the toughest (and most common) issues a CIO faces. Whether moving jobs overseas, or simply out of state, CIOs need to know that vendors have experience managing both the human and public relations issues associated with outsourcing decisions. Bringing a PR expert into the deal to counsel the CIO on internal and external communications could be a smart move for vendors seeking to differentiate themselves.

• Help the business be a good partner – 'Vendor management' is repeatedly one of CIO Magazine's top issues. It has spawned plenty of ink but also a new acronym and a new direct report for CIOs. Some very high-profile buyers have created VMOs—vendor management officers—in recent times (Aflac, American Red Cross, Blue Cross Blue Shield) and it's clear that vendors must learn about the role and how it differs from a purchasing function in order to more effectively sell and manage relationships with CIOs.

• It's about the people, dummy – VMOs may well provide CIOs with new focus and power in negotiating with vendors, but as Gartner's EXP survey reveals, finding the right talent (not just the right price) remains a bigger issue for CIOs. Only thirty-nine percent of CIOs believe they have the right people to meet current and future business needs. Additionally, only twenty percent of CIOs who rate business process improvement among the top five priorities for 2005 believe the IT organization has the necessary skills to implement this. Vendors—and communications professionals—have a huge opportunity to address the skills gap by positioning themselves as resource-rich and deep in experience. Thought leadership, coupled with ability to execute, is still a good way to kick open that CIO door!