CIOs are making progress in aligning information technology with business strategy but still face a significant hurdle in making non-IT executives see IT as a business investment rather than a cost. “This next level of alignment requires shifting senior management’s mind-set from viewing IT spending as something separate from business to bundling IT in with the overall investment in business,” says Mary Silva Doctor, a consultant who works with Bensalem, Pa.-based Omega Point Consulting, a consultancy focused on IT management.