Do You Trust the Cloud With Your Business Critical Data?

[Duncan Taylor]

I am trying to increase my understanding of how users are accepting or not accepting storing their business critical data in the cloud.

• Do you use any software which stores your information in the cloud?
• Is it a shared cloud or is your data isolated?
• Does the data you store there sensitive data like tax ids?
• If you aren't using any cloud related software, why not? And, what would it take for you to use the cloud?

Full disclosure here, I am trying to increase my understanding of this because I am considering an investment in a technology offering using the cloud. I'm not trying to get exposure for this company. I am just trying to figure out if I want to park some longer term money I have in a company wanting to extend their technology offering beyond their internal use. They have the best overall investment management system I have seen. I am a beta user and will definitely continue to use it after launch and will transition away from using Buildium. But, I am trying to decide if I want to be an investor too.

[Justin B.]

Not a lot of people realize this but a lot of Amazon and Rackspace's "datacenter's" are just space they rent out in public datacenters (Which are just office parks). Some people feel comfortable with the big names and others hate them because they feel being so big they are a constant target. It all depends on who you talk to.

But Cloud is cheap when compared to doing it yourself. That's why everyone is moving that way. When someone says, ok it's $30k to build your own exchange environment or you can get the same service for $200/month in our cloud. People go to the cloud.

So I wouldn't worry about security in the cloud offering. Make sure the company is well run and that YOU trust the company and those who run it. If you have the right people and systems in place it doesn't matter what you're selling, it will do well.