Year 2010 is almost at an end. It too will have its share if things not done, but what I'm sure will stay with us for years to come will be the effort that bore fruit during the year – the  projects that gave us a real sense of accomplishment.

We at CTO Forum sought to keep you company on this journey, in your quest for excellence. We made genuine efforts to help you find insights through the experience of your own peers. We brought you features, real-life case studies, interviews and opinions from people in India and around the world.

When I and my team were planning the December [year end] issues of the magazine, we wanted to do something extraordinary. It should encourage you, help you, maybe even scold you to never lose sight of the larger picture of CIOs as change makers way beyond the IT enterprise.

That's how we decided to invite a CIO, one of your respected peers, as our ‘Guest Editor’ who could guide mentor and (if required) criticize us. Trust me, this was no stunt. The idea wasn’t new as some dailies and business magazines have already experimented with it. For us, this wasn't about 'Jazzing up' our issues: clearly if we wanted our message to get across, it had to come from someone YOU recognised and respected, and we had to work hard before Vijay Sethi, CIO of Hero Honda finally
agreed to come on board as our first Guest Editor – for the two December 2010 issues.

We began with a bang, but many unforeseen hurdles (which we are still grappling with) came between us and success. The plan (which continues in the next issue as well) was to get 25-30 CIOs to write on topics mostly outside the technology domain.  

Some of our contributors turned in their copies well on time, and followed Sethi's guidelines properly. Others, who weren’t comfortable writing, talked to us, reviewed our drafts and then signed off on their copies. A few didn't like the idea and courteously declined.

In the end, we are proud to say we were largely successful. Here’s the first of the two-part cover feature: CIO 3.0 for your perusal. I hope you’ll like the idea, and the effort that has gone into producing this. The next issue will conclude this feature and will be accompanied by the results of our second annual CIO Survey. As always, I eagerly await your feedback so that this engagement becomes even more intensive and meaningful.

RAHUL NEEL MANI

rahul.mani@9dot9.in