Every business needs to protect its data, and the cloud is a viable option to support this requirement. In addition to keeping information safe, cloud computing is also affordable, thanks to its pay-as-you-go service model. With cloud computing, businesses can back up data in multiple locations throughout different regions, keeping information accessible regardless of geography.

When AWS made Trusted Advisor free for the month of March, CloudCheckr took the announcement as an opportunity to conduct an internal survey of their customers usage. CloudCheckr considered the news an implicit acknowledgement of what many have long known: AWS is extremely complex and it is challenging for users to provision and control their AWS infrastructure properly.

I started the discussion around cloud-based Business Intelligence solutions a while ago, and I already presented you the best technologies available on the market and explained you their benefits. Today, I would like to take a closer look at IBM’s solutions.

IBM Cognos

Today, cloud computing is the result of a widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architecture, and utility computing. The location of the infrastructure or software applications is no longer relevant for some of the end-users, who don’t want to thoroughly control the technical infrastructure that supports their activities.

Despite the buzz around cloud computing, the adoption rate of cloud Business Intelligence solutions is relatively low, according to recent reports – Wisdom of Crowds Cloud Business Intelligence Market Study.

According to Gartner, organizations are more likely to have a policy against sharing sensitive data with their business partners than with their cloud provider. But when it comes to sharing sensitive data, particularly with your cloud provider, one word comes to mind – Accountability. Your organization needs to be accountable for what data gets moved to the cloud and the state it’s in when it gets there (firewalls, encryption, policies, etc.).

Companies around the globe are continuously seeking new ways to be competitive in rough economic times. A recent report estimated the VoIP market will reach $377 billion by 2016, emphasizing that many businesses around the globe are taking advantage of the enhanced communication and lower cost-of-ownership that comes with VoIP.

A recent article in the New York Daily News highlights the uproar from New York parents about the state’s decision to partner with inBloom and store student data on the cloud.

Cloud computing solutions should be the natural option for small businesses. In a recent survey released by Spiceworks, 62% of the SMBs interviewed reported that they are using some type of cloud application. Most of them are using cloud services as tools for file-sharing, but haven’t moved into online productivity applications. According to the survey cloud-based productivity suites have the lowest adoption rate.

When deciding to store information in the cloud, choosing the best provider can be a tough decision. This is a list of six of the leaders of cloud storage providers in order for you to be able to make an informed decision on the best cloud storage solution for your business. Here are the cloud storage services I consider the best:

Amazon Cloud Drive