Collaborative forms of innovation between heterogeneous actors have lately attracted much attention from scholars and practitioners alike. While there is a growing interest from industrial actors to make use of academic knowledge, universities are facing increased incentives and pressure to contribute to economic growth. Despite these efforts, effects of academy/industry collaboration are hard to trace. Except from problems of measuring effects contradictions between stability desired in alliances and the flexibility often advocated in alliances in combination with heterogeneous understandings of cooperation can offer some explanation on this issue. Based on a qualitative case study this paper examines collaborative efforts between twelve IT research centers and industrial actors. The notion of Trading Zones is used as a lens through which negotiation of understandings and efforts are analyzed. More specifically we suggest that collaboration often takes place in fractioned trading zones with heterogeneous cultures. Reducing heterogeneity, creating boundary objects and interactional expertise are found to be strategies used by actors in order to coordinate efforts.