This positing on my part is solidified by conducted jointly by Gartner and the Financial Executives Research Foundation. . Perhaps even more enlightening is that 53% of CFO respondents say they prefer a scenario where they headed up IT.

"The CFO and CIO are well-positioned to work together at generating superior performance from the enterprise," Bill Sinnett, director of research at FERF, notes in a statement with the report.

I couldn't agree more. It's easy for CIOs to get jazzed about the latest and greatest technology, and to think that the organization couldn't possibly do without it. The CFO holds the holistic view of the business' core values, mission and financial state to steer the CIO's enthusiasm in a realistic direction. For instance, a CIO might be convinced that the company needs a secondary site for disaster recovery. However, the CFO can point out that departments are increasingly submitting budgets that include cloud-based tools, which offer built-in backup and business continuity. This would either negate the need for a failover site or impact its size and expense.

CIOs tend to know what's happening based on requests for technology; CFOs know what's happening beyond IT. Only 5% of respondents said the CFO hasn't any participation at all in IT decision-making.

There's a caveat, though, on the positive outlook for CFO involvement -- CFOs must be willing to understand the role of IT. This sounds elemental, but it's not. As Gartner Research Vice President John Van Decker commented in the statement, "CFO reporting can lead to success if the CFO has a deep understanding of IT's value."