CenterBeam, Inc.

Small- and medium-sized businesses are turning to cloud computing at a faster rate than ever in hopes of reducing costs by outsourcing IT to a SaaS provider, according to Outsourcery.

Companies who sell cloud computing services must be aware of their commitment to their customers and carefully package features, according to ZDNet. Also, determining a pricing option based on the package offered to a customer is crucial.

For small health clinics and private medical practices looking to collect money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, an IT expert believes that shifting to cloud computing in the form of SaaS is imperative when the government begins awarding the funds in 2011.

Forty-five percent of supply-chain professionals stated that their companies outsource regulatory compliance needs, according to a recent survey conducted by BDP International and its survey branch Centrx.

Microsoft announced recently that its latest cloud computing offering Azure is now available in India, according to the Economic Times. One of the strongest features of the new product and all cloud computing, according to the software giant, is its implications for the environment and a company's bottom line.

On March 1, a law went into effect in Massachusetts mandating that all companies that store personal information about customers must improve their overall data security. The companies must draft and install a written information security program that is appropriate to the size and overall scope of the company.

Despite reports that businesses of all sizes are still reducing IT costs, Microsoft reported on Wednesday that sales for Windows 7 have risen to 90 million licenses sold worldwide. Increased sales have also led to further demand from retailers.

Network security expert Roger Strukhoff believes that organizations hesitant to move to cloud computing are afraid of losing control over their data, outsourcing IT operations and leery of potential security threats.

By 2014, more than 130 million enterprise users will utilize applications in the mobile cloud, according to Juniper Research. Companies like Google and Microsoft have recognized the trend of cloud expansion and began offering Platform-as-a-Aervice applications.

Eight of the 10 most prevalent active threats currently infesting the web are Trojans, according to Sunbelt Software. The web security company recently released its list of the 10 worst threats. Not only were Trojans in eight of the top 10 spots, but the four top malware strains were all Trojans.