In fall 2004, at one of the initial meetings of the CIO Executive Council, members prioritized their professional challenges and chose several to collectively tackle to drive positive change. One was the need to clearly explain the value that IT brings to the enterprise. In most companies, there is no institutional understanding of why IT is essential. This gap in understanding places CIOs in the position of having to defend IT to the rest of the enterprise, a situation the Council CIOs were determined to change.

“Instead of continuing to be defensive about what we do, we decided to be proactive,” says Kevin Humphries, senior VP of technology services at FedEx. The problem was that IT, unlike most other business functions, has no established lexicon to explain what it does and how it should work. Based on the decision to be proactive, a group of Council members, cochaired by Humphries, began creating a framework to describe in layman’s terms what IT does to create value.

The result, after nearly 18 months of work by dozens of CIOs, is the IT Value Matrix, which illustrates the principles and practices essential to creating, identifying and communicating IT’s value to the enterprise. The matrix identifies approximately 130 components, grouped under three key practice areas—stakeholder alignment, communication and the CIO role. It’s organized for drilling down from general to specific. For example, to achieve stakeholder alignment, CIOs need both knowledge and action. To learn what type of knowledge, you drill down one level and find four types: stakeholder analysis, political and cultural issues, technology trends and business dynamics. “If you are weak in or not paying enough attention to a particular area, you are likely to have trouble succeeding,” Humphries notes.

To make room in his office for the poster-sized version of the matrix, Agriliance CIO Steven John took down his prized, framed copy of Superman comic book No. 1. While Superman might inspire John and other CIOs to leap tall buildings, the matrix keeps them planted on solid ground.

“For me it’s an anchor, a focusing tool,” says John, who cochaired the task force with Humphries. “It’s too easy to get sucked into the black hole of day-to-day operations. This helps me focus on the strategic and the transformational.”

As intended, the matrix is a focal point for conversations with businesspeople about how IT should relate to the enterprise. Marla Davidson, CIO of the Arthritis Foundation, says her quizzical business colleagues notice her interest in areas of the enterprise that are unrelated to technology. “This tool helps me explain what is expected of me and why I need to get involved in these areas,” says Davidson.