Many CIOs are struggling to balance IT governance issues against the need to implement new technology and manage assets, according to research conducted by Mori.

Two main areas are affecting the ability of IT bosses to achieve effective egovernance, according to CA, who commissioned the study.

'One is being able to run themselves as a business, to get visibility and understanding of all of the resources and assets that are at their disposal,' said Kirsten Cox, CA Technology Service's principal consultant.

'That then has an impact on the second area, how they deliver a service to their business, keeping up with the organisation's challenges,' she said.

Some 45 per cent of those surveyed said their challenges stemmed from the complexity of the infrastructure, the variety of tools, processes and different solutions.

Complexity is the enemy of the CIO, Cox says.

'They seem to be getting some of the issues sorted out, such as the number of different suppliers they used, which is starting to translate into standardised infrastructures, so they are making steps towards resolving complexity, but we will look again in a year's time to see how far they have got,' she said.