For chief information officers overseeing their company's move into the cloud, Tony Kontzer writes on CIO Insight's website that there are hard questions that need to be asked of the cloud service provider, including how much cloud backup will cost and how quickly data will come once it has been backed up.

"Some vendors reportedly ask to be paid all past-due amounts before handing over backed-up data," Kontzer writes. "You can count on the fact that you and your vendor will not agree on how much is owed. It’s best to iron out these issues contractually before your relationship begins."

Other questions that companies will need to ask of cloud providers before migrating is what will the service do and how will it function within the company, how intellectual property is handled by the vendor and where the data center is in which the company data will be housed.

Michael Muchmore said on PCMag's website that online or cloud backup is essential, as it will allow files, photos, music and documents to remain available even if the disks or computer holding the data is stolen or misplaced.