Instead of installing software and data on your desktop computer or in house server, a web based application is used to access data stored off site.  Business users do not need to worry about upgrading software, internal computing infrastructure is greatly reduced and users can  access the application from virtually any where.  Seems simple and inviting?  Well yes and no.  At first glance all the above brings many benefits, cost saving opportunities and possible efficiency boost to an organization.  But like most business propositions, when it works as it is supposed to it is a good thing when it doesn't, well it doesn't.

Amazon's recent cloud server application went down for 4 days.  If your company is dependent on computing power to generate revenue, that means your business is closed for 4 days with relatively no control to get it fixed.  Your business becomes dependent and at the mercy of a third party service provider.  Does that mean that cloud computing isn't a viable option to move mission critical applications? Planning and preparation is the key to mitigate damage control on an cloud computing outage situation.

Possible safety nets could mean having a back up in place.  This may be internal back up or an alternative cloud back up.  Perform due diligence on a prospective cloud provider.  Check their data security and just as import plan for a data breach and how your organization would react to such a breach.  Employees need to be educated concerning security of sensitive data. Since data can be accesses any where, employees should be aware of connecting to the business data through public computers or internet connections.

Although cloud computing brings many benefits to business computing, owners must be aware of the dangers and plan according before taking the leap.