What is it that enterprises want in the cloud, and in their cloud provider? While the specifics may vary a bit from company to company, there are some general conclusions that can be drawn.

In a new white paper from the industry research firm Ovum, the "what do we want" question is addressed, in part through a survey of 200 IT decision makers. Asked to rate the factors that influence their decision to invest in cloud services, the leading reason is cost cutting, both in the IT department itself and across the entire operation.More...