by way of introduction to the process, consider doug frese''s discussion paper on it enterprise architecture and pat barton''s on enterprise resource planning: factors affecting success and failure. both talk about the process of creating it enterprise systems from a relatively positive and more or less rational perspective, and both make perfect sense. but stephanie gurlen''s discussion paper on scope creep is perhaps more to the point; the phenomenon that she describes and categorizes with that memorable and almost onomatopoetic phrase is a more or less constant fact of organizational life. structural, professional, and personal forces all work in combination to make the it service/planning interface problematical. organizational politics alone would make the job difficult; add in communication difficulties, differing frames of professional reference, and just plain personality conflicts and you have a recipe for a serious misalignment. the person at the center of all this swirling chaos tends to be the chief information officer (cio) of the organization. there''s no doubt that superior management can make a big difference in achieving or not achieving planning alignment, or at least in making clear when and why alignment is less than perfect. much of what the cio does is to explain to both sides why the other is as it is. here are two articles describing how cios play this key middle-ground role: allan holmes. the four (not three, not five) principles of managing expectations. cio magazine. retrieved may 19, 2008 from http://www.cio.com/archive/110105/expectations.html mark goulston. how to avoid bumping heads. cio magazine. retrieved may 19, 2008 from http://www.cio.com/archive/110105/career.html When you''ve had a chance to read through these articles, and look through the background material for additional information regarding this phenomenon and other parts of the IT planning process, and consult any other resources that seem helpful to you on this matter, please compose a 2-3 page paper on the topic: "Most effective CIO''s strategy for strategic IT planning"