More businesses could move towards cloud technology this year.
Companies who are moving their virtualisation towards the cloud via electronic document storage services will find that they can integrate lots of different parts of software, according to the security editor of Techworld.
John Dunn pointed out that the cloud offers a neutral space by combining private clouds, public clouds and hybrid clouds.
"I suppose you could say data centres are kind of like private clouds, and then you’ve got the public cloud where you buy services without any hardware or software," he explained.
"That’s the bit people are having difficulty with. The private cloud is easy – you just adopt some of the cloud technology and run it yourselves, that’s the more conventional way. With hybrids you have a bit of both."
He noted that it might be harder for businesses to employ public clouds because of regulatory issues and concerns about the technology.
"One of the problems is if you buy into the cloud and then want to break your relationship with that platform provider, migrating to another is not a simple thing to do," Mr Dunn said.
Firms might also worry about migrating to the public cloud because they are unaware of the type of firewall that exists between their own assets and those of another organisation.
Meanwhile, Suffolk county council has adopted a cloud-based project management system that is already displaying financial and operational advantages over previous systems.
Council project manager Duncan Farley told the Guardian that the decision to opt for a cloud tool came about because of the expected economic benefits and its ease of use.
Chief information officer at the local authority Mark Adams-Wright added: "To successfully operate within a matrix working environment it is imperative that everyone remains on the same page. Having one live version of every worksheet enables us to achieve results quickly, reduce duplication and monitor progress in real time."