What's more, Pappalardo doesn't think appointing a CFO or any other business executive into a CIO role is a sound long-term strategy. "I understand why companies do it," he says. "In an economy like this, it may be a good [short-term] strategy for companies that are specifically looking at saving money, are being bought out, or experienced some hiccup in their performance. It's cheaper, but it's not the most creative thing. They're not getting the best technical thinking."

Perhaps not surprisingly, Pappalardo, Polansky and others are confident that the next generation of IT leaders will continue to come out of IT.

IT Departments Will Remain a Breeding Ground for New CIOs

The changes IT departments are currently undergoing--spurred by outsourcing, cloud computing, shifting business demands and consumer technologies in the enterprise--are giving IT professionals the experiences they need today to be great CIOs tomorrow.

Consider the IT professionals at Ministry Health Care, a system of hospitals and clinics in Wisc. CIO Will Weider says a large pipeline of future IT leaders exists in his 250-person IT organization. If an IT leadership position were to open up inside his shop tomorrow, he says he has people "who could step in right away and be very effective."