Security and Availability: Security and availability are still the main concerns that most people have about relying on cloud-based services.
You've probably heard of the many high-profile news stories of security breaches in cloud-based services. Although you should certainly think about the implications of a breach in your organizational data, you should also consider that in both cloud-based and on-premises software, most security breaches are attributable to human error.
When thinking about cloud security and availability, you should also have a realistic sense of your current technology situation. Fears about the cloud are sometimes based on a utopian vision of an organization's current situation. Odds are that your security isn't perfect, you don't have 100 percent systems uptime, and you may not have staff resources dedicated to IT management. In the cloud, security and management are in the hands of trained, dedicated experts.
Cloud Vendors Going Out of Business: Cloud computing is still a quickly changing field, and there's always the danger that a new company might go out of business or radically change its service. A sudden change in service might not be too detrimental if you were only using the application for a one-time project, but it could be disastrous if you were using it for your entire donor database.
When evaluating cloud providers, find out what options you have for backing up and extracting your data. The best services allow you to download your data in a standard, non proprietary format.
The Need for Reliable Internet Service: Finally, you will become more dependent on a good Internet connection if you rely on the cloud. As more mission-critical work is done on the Internet, organizations will need much more bandwidth and few, if any, failures in Internet connectivity. If consistent Internet access, connection speed, or bandwidth are problems for your organization, cloud solutions may not be right for you at this time.
