Over the last 30 years, the landscape of the IT industry has changed dramatically with the adoption of virtualization and cloud computing. Though this trend has become mainstream, implementation has varied among world markets. 

From data released by survey institutions, it is evident that cloud computing has its benefits. According to a 2011 survey conducted by Apptio and Worldwide Executive Council, 80% of IT executives believe metrics related to cloud would grow in importance over the next 12 months. But which cloud service model is right for you? Although the benefits of cloud can prove substantial for your company, there are many factors to take into account when deciding which is right for your business.

A recent study conducted by KPMG found that 81% of businesses were either evaluating cloud services, planned a cloud implementation or had already implemented a cloud strategy. Fewer than one in 10 said they had no immediate plans to start using the cloud. No matter how businesses decide to move to the cloud, one thing's clear: they are moving to the cloud.

In the many meetings that we have at customer sites, conferences, seminars, and other industry events, one conversation point that we continually come into is the difference between Cloud Computing and Virtualization. The “cloud” has become a term shrouded in confusion.  Many IT organizations position themselves to be “doing cloud” to satisfy the questions from the business and other executives, because they believe virtualization to be synonymous. While virtualization is an integral part of cloud computing, they are not the same thing.