As economies around the world emerge from the current downturn, many executives understand that what follows probably won’t be just another turn of the business cycle. This new period will see a restructuring of the economic order. Some are calling it the “new normal,”¹ marked by persistent uncertainty, tighter credit, lower consumer spending, and greater government involvement in business.

For executives who run major IT organizations, the implications are clear: they will have to make the IT function dramatically more productive, use IT more effectively to meet larger company goals, and embrace disruptive technologies that will shape the new economic terrain. Drawing upon our experience with clients, recent McKinsey surveys of executives, and a range of interviews with experts, we have analyzed what the new normal means for CIOs in Europe. While some of the forces impinging on them are specific to that region, many of our findings are applicable to IT leaders elsewhere as well.