Remote storage of company-sensitive information is not pie in the sky

WE all use cloud computing in some form or other. Your normal, web-based email program is based on the cloud. The emails are not stored on your computer, instead they are stored on Google, Yahoo and Hotmail's servers.

The best known providers of cloud computing services

Online retailer Amazon is now one of the best known providers of cloud computing services, especially to smaller businesses. The company's move into cloud services dates back to the early 2000s.

In 2006 the company launched its Amazon Web Service, where companies pay to use Amazon's servers to run their IT business.

The business has proved incredibly valuable to Amazon

The business has proved incredibly valuable to Amazon, and has moved beyond the small business sector that originally started to use the service.

Google and IBM have become strong advocates of cloud computing, with Google using cloud innovation for its Chrome web browser and its highly successful Android smartphone operating system -- which has become one of the world's most popular OS for smartphones, ahead of Apple and BlackBerry.