This shifting landscape -- where financial teams and IT teams are inextricably blended -- is an important one. Cloud computing, as on numerous occasions, will be as much about crafting a sound contract as it will be about the technology itself. has forced handcuffs between executives, including finance and IT, that will not be unshackled any time soon. And , not just of infrastructure, but of staff and budgets, will necessitate a peek behind the technology curtain by those in the boardroom.

CIOs, who can be a prickly lot when queried too deeply by those perceived as ill versed in the ways of technology, must reform. Become educators to the finance class and focus your tutelage on business-critical projects. For instance, everyone should be clear on the path forward for security, disaster recovery and business intelligence. There should be no single wizard guiding these efforts, but instead a collective institutional mindset that if we act together the business will be safer, nimbler and savvier.

CFOs, if you sometimes want to bury your head in a ledger, you must become inquisitive about the technology that drives the numbers you crunch. Think beyond the spreadsheet silos, to shared pools of data that generate ideas to drive business forward. Understand that a finance eye on service contracts can be a lifesaver for the technology team.

My goal in writing this blog has been to illuminate the blurred line that exists between finance and technology. As a journalist who's seen the walls between the should-be allies firsthand, it concerned me that finger-pointing often trumped collaboration. It's an easy abyss to fall into, with compliance and other edgy issues. But no one triumphs with that attitude.

Instead, as I said in , an act as simple as sitting down for lunch together could narrow the span of the bridge that divides finance and IT. Having members of each department work jointly on mission-critical, enterprise-wide projects also would have a lasting effect. Any opportunity for department-to-department interaction would go a long way to tearing down the walls that currently exist.