Good intentions aside, IT leaders often end up delivering what they think they know best. Where they have gaps in their experience it’s not unreasonable to invite consultants. The real issue is when executive management or stakeholders attempt to solicit 3rd party opinions about how IT is doing and perhaps call for an audit. When this happens, CIO’s along with their direct reports can become defensive and territorial. Why is that? Why do so few organizations request voluntary external IT audits? Is it a bad idea to occasionally hold a mirror up to the CIO and the IT organization? Why couldn’t this be used as a tool to get better at creating value? Aren’t we still just following old auditing ways that focused on operational efficiency or are we ready to develop newer frameworks that help IT to focus on top line growth with better alignment to the business?