Art Langer, a Columbia University academic and CIO insider, is up with his latest analysis of the state of the CIO role.

In it, he poses some crucial questions CIOs need to ask of themselves. The questions cover a broad range of topics but serve as a solid checklist for evaluating their performance--both now and in the future.

Here's what he suggests you ask:
- How centralized is my IT shop?
- What's your relationship with the c-suite?
- Are you controlling IT, or facilitating its proper use?
- Are you waiting to be asked to cut costs?
- Are you willing to disenfranchise parts of IT for the company's good?
- How much do you know about your business?
- What lies ahead for your future?

Check out the story for insight and context into each question. You could say that these are things CIOs and other IT executives should be asking all the time, in good times and bad. But for the latter, these questions are essential to survival.

As many IT leaders and industry watchers have said, now is a time when CIOs need to be more proactive in working with the business to solve problems. As Informatica CIO Tony Young told me not too long ago, once we come out of this recession, business executives will be doing a lot of "rearview-mirror" evaluations of how CIOs and IT performed for them.

Step up now, and you could see big gains in the future. Keep your head down and do what you're told, and you could be seeing a lot more of the same post-recession.

How are you evaluating your performance?