Storage-area network complexity can mask what might seem to be relatively benign issues that have the potential to build up and cause an outage or brownout. To identify trouble early, you need to create a SAN performance benchmark, an essential first step to setting up metrics to gauge infrastructure performance.

If you think the phrase "It's in the cloud" means that your data resides on the Internet and is thus accessible everywhere equally, think again. Most infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) cloud services share the same residence model as traditional hosting and outsourcing deployments -- they live in specific data centers in specific geographies. This means that customer data is generated and most likely stored in this physical location, giving it legal and privacy implications.

If you're an enterprise deciding whether now is the time to migrate your e-mail or SharePoint environment into a cloud service, there is a method to all this cloud madness. And if done right, it could transform your company's identity.