The shift to cloud computing sensible

High real estate costs make the shift to cloud computing sensible, according to Bill Fathers, senior vice-president at Savvis. However as he tells CNBC's Martin Soong, Karen Tso and Adam Bakhtiar, the issue of security remains a major hurdle in the adoption of cloud computing.

Cash-rich U.S. firms will likely direct their money towards investing in productivity boosters, like research, instead of hiring new employees, says Alastair Newton, MD & senior political analyst at Nomura International. He speaks to CNBC's Lisa Oake and Sri Jegarajah.