I'm not sure it's possible to completely clear the fog surrounding cloud computing today. Nor am I sure that it's wise to wait for it to dissipate. Usually, by the time the light becomes perfectly clear, much of the day has sped away, leaving you to regret being so slow to get going.

Bernard Golden is CEO of consulting firm HyperStratus, which specializes in virtualization, cloud computing and related issues. He is also the author of "Virtualization for Dummies," the best-selling book on virtualization to date.