With the end of 2011 upon us, one thing is sure: the mobile revolution is in full swing. Smartphones and tablets are everywhere.

In fact, according to the analyst firm Gartner, sales of smartphones will exceed 461 million this year – surpassing PC shipments in the process – and rise to 645 million in 2012. Combined sales of smartphones and tablets will be 44 percent greater than the PC market by the end of the year. Beyond 2011, Gartner says the rise in tablet use will jump to 900 million by 2016.

These devices are not just becoming mainstream, they are penetrating nearly every aspect of our lives. More importantly, for many the line between personal and business devices has been blurred, or erased altogether. More often than not, a single device is used for both personal and business activities, with Gartner also predicting that 80 percent of professionals will use at least two personal devices to access corporate systems and data by 2014.

People in IT leadership roles, including CIOs and CISOs, typically only have five to eight minutes of time to present in Board of Director meetings, according to the latest research from the IT Policy Compliance Group. How CISOs use this time will often determine if they get the resources they need to effectively manage IT risk.

Adding to this pressure on CISOs is the fact that their boards are more attuned to security issues than ever before.  Recent data from Forrester Research notes that 70% of security decision makers report increased executive awareness of IT security as a result of high profile attacks and breaches.  So now, in less than 10 minutes, CISOs need to manage interactions with the board to focus on the most critical issues while avoiding distractions from what senior executives may have read about or heard regarding cyber-attacks.  As a security leader, how do you maintain their focus on the issues that matter, and walk away from the board meeting with the resources or approvals you need to manage IT risk for the organization?