One thing Forrester does not address is the, perhaps, logical outcome of making a case for cloud computing to CFOs: If cloud computing is so good and more efficient and responsive than central IT, why not bypass IT entirely and use an outside service provider to deliver cloud-based systems?

This approach, sometimes labeled "shadow IT" (usually by the disgruntled, bypassed IT organizations) is, perhaps, the biggest IT organization challenge posed by cloud computing. By removing infrastructure ownership from IT, suddenly IT no longer has control over key business resources, making it possible for someone attuned to a cost/benefit approach, like, say, a CFO, to cut down IT's power.

Cloud computing definitely holds the potential to upend the long-established organizational pecking order and certainly puts IT in a much more precarious position. Any time the case for a technology innovation is made to the CFO, you know things are going to get interesting.

Bernard Golden is CEO of consulting firm HyperStratus, which specializes in virtualization, cloud computing and related issues. He is also the author of "Virtualization for Dummies," the best-selling book on virtualization to date.