There are many arguments about cloud based information services and/or offering IT as a cloud-based service. Some say cloud computing is nothing more than outsourcing IT and creating a dependency that will trap the organization. Others believe the cloud creates efficiencies and benefits that the traditional approach to IT cannot achieve without substantial costs. What are your thoughts? You are not required to limit your thinking to date redundancy and backups. Defend your position or thinking! A good starting point for this discussion would be a clear definition of the 'cloud,' if one can be had. What companies are delivering cloud services, and what is it you can buy from them? My own team is reviewing a problematic situation with cloud services right now that relates to this discussion. Our executive staff is using a backup product which stores data in the cloud, and this particular service maintains the encryption keys for their data for us. A number of people on my staff have expressed concern about this 'trapping' our data, and taking all the security controls out of our hands. It's a sticky situation, especially since this cloud solution is far cheaper and more flexible than what we could build on premises. In terms of actual security issues, we're relying wholly on contractual controls to protect our data, but can we really trust the vendor and their staff to adhere to their own policies? We're struggling with this. What similar situations do you think are out there? Have you run into any yourself?