By now, most of you have heard of Cloud Computing...some of it good, some of it bad and mostly all of it confusing. The idea of computing on the cloud and accessing needed files and programs has been around since the early days of the internet with (ASP) and on-demand software services for things like sales, accounting etc. These services met the needs of a specific department, but the idea of moving a company's entire computing process to an offsite cloud where they'll save money, become more efficient and remain secure? Well, lets just say that sounded like the pie in the sky stuff we used to read in those popular science magazines. You know, the stories that had us farming on the ocean floor or setting up colonies on the planet Mars by the year 1999. Well I'm here to tell you, its not pie in the sky. The cloud is here.

Look, I hear varying experiences from people all over the world when speaking on the subject of switching to the cloud. These stories range from outrageous success to calamitous failure and everything else in-between. But here's my theory on the cloud ....if the time is right for you, than take the leap. And if your not ready, then you better start getting ready because like it or not, that ship has already left port. So with that said, here are a few tips to use and questions to ask as you consider navigating this process:

What constitutes Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the new rave and buzz term in computing and covers a wide array of systems, process and delivery platforms:

1. Storage-as-a-Service (On-Demand Disks): This is the ability to provide remote storage to a user and the most common of the Cloud Computing components.

2. Database-as-a-Service (DaaS): This is a remotely hosted database. This would benefit the company that doesn't want to spend the money on the software and hardware to host this database and serve this database. Databases require administration, and delivery mechanisms such as SQL.

3. Information-as-a-Service: This is simply remotely hosted information commonly delivered through a remote API (Application Programming Interface). A good example of this would be streaming stock quotes and credit reports.

4. Process-as-a-Service (PaaS): This is the remote resource that binds several of the other "as-a-Service" based components. This is the process of creating remote business processes (I know it sounds crazy).

5. Application-as-a-Service (No I am not going to put the acronym here. Let say this is Software-as-a- Service). This is remote application delivery.

6. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): This is your entire infrastructure in the cloud.

There are several other components that industry experts state are important components of cloud computing, however for sake of making this THE most boring article you ever read, I have only included the most important ones.

What are the benefits of Cloud Computing?

1. Lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) Both on a support level and initial capital investment. You save money when it is on someone else's racks. And aside from the software and hardware savings, you may also save on overhead by outsourcing all of your IT services to your cloud provider. And hey, if you don't think your already paying a lot for your current IT department, try this cool little calculator to give you a better idea as to just how much your currently spending: http://hiveve.com/new_site/pricing.php?PHPSESSID=7b4cbed0b6355dbee4f7e9709ffb5e92

2. One-Stop Shop for your technology. Most Cloud companies have made it their mantra to include everything in their cloud offerings.

3. Scalability becomes simple. Add/Remove servers in an instant.

4. Complete Mobility. Remove the "Brick-and-Mortar" mentality of doing business. Many companies ask, "How do we free ourselves from the office". Well Cloud Computing and the Virtual Enterprise is the way...Sit on the beach and work direct from your iPad. It may sound hard to believe, but today, more than 34 million U.S. adults telecommute at least occasionally and that number is expected to swell to 63 million -- or 43 percent of U.S. workers -- by 2016.

5. Disaster Recovery. This fits right into your DRP. Cloud Computing is certainly on the rise. Most C-level people have considered this a viable upgrade/option for some time now.

How do I select a Cloud Provider?
It is no secret that most large enterprises are moving in this direction. With so many companies emerging as the "Leaders in Cloud Computing", how do you know which one is a good fit for your company?

The core steps are to assess the platforms, analyze and test the platforms, select 3 targets, and deploy. The main factors to consider when looking into a cloud company provider is how many clients do they have using the cloud, what their clients are saying, what are your true needs and requests for moving your business into the cloud. You should then ask the target company, "Why should we move into the cloud"? See what responses you get.

Additionally, you should do the following:
1. Research the target company
2. Viability of the target company
3. Make sure their SLA (Service Level Agreement) includes a failover and disaster timeframe with accountability. Also make sure they have tested that failover.
4. Make sure the target company has multiple data centers. A true sign of an unstable cloud provider is one which has only one data center.
5. Make sure the target company provides you a complete "Policies"

None of us can see what the future holds for IT systems and platforms, but I can tell you my forecast for business computing is for the next ten years....Partly Cloudy with a100% chance of participation.