"Getting the data back so you can use it is not always easy," says Claybrook. "Talk about this beforehand. That should be part of the contract negotiations."

7. How do you address government regulations? Many businesses have to comply with state or federal regulations regarding consumer privacy and data. With that in mind, it's critical to know how your cloud vendor is handling your data so you can be sure you are complying with all of the regulations that affect your business, Claybrook says. "There are cases, due to regulations, where you don't want your data stored outside of some particular area, maybe a specific state and certainly not outside your country," says Claybrook. "What kind of guarantee can you get from your cloud provider that your data stays within a certain place?"

Claybrook emphasizes that it's the customer's responsibility to comply with government regulations. "You have to be sure you are still in compliance once you move to the cloud," he says. "Make sure that this is part of your contract."

8. What will I really pay? "When Amazon EC2 and other public clouds came along, the assumption was that running your applications on a public cloud was going to be cheaper," Claybrook says. "Now some people are finding out that it's more expensive than they thought, and some are trying to move back and build out their own datacenters. So you need to have really good cost estimates for running apps on the cloud versus running them on your own premises."

Customers can get misled on price when cloud vendors leave details out of their cost estimates, says Claybrook. "Be sure to ask about everything you need. Don't assume anything," he says. "For example, ask if there are charges for transferring data over networks to the cloud. Ask a lot of questions. Ask the questions that you're hesitant to ask."