6. Virtualization is the same as cloud computing

Virtualization is a key enabler of cloud computing. But installing VMware on a few servers doesn't mean you've built a private cloud. In addition to virtualization, a private cloud requires service automation technologies and a self-service interface for provisioning new resources, says IBM cloud software chief .

In a titled "virtualization isn't cloud computing," cloud start-up Enomaly's founder Reuven Cohen says virtualization is a building block for cloud computing, but the real key is abstraction at every level of the IT stack.

"The key to cloud infrastructure is abstraction to the point that it 'just doesn't matter,'" Cohen wrote. "Your infrastructure is always available and completely fault tolerant. Think more along the lines of the iPhone application delivery model (App Store), and less like the desktop application models of the past. The companies that will succeed are the ones who embrace this new hybrid internet centric model. More simply, the cloud is the computer."

A cloud doesn't necessarily even need virtualization. This has been proven by none other than Google officials, who have said they do not virtualize production hardware and instead use a job scheduling system of Google's own design to manage its many thousands of servers.