"The myriad of compliance requirements nowadays present a complex matrix of challenges for cloud adoptees," said Greg Rusu, General Manager of Public Cloud at PEER 1 Hosting, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. "Clients should look for recognized certifications from their cloud provider," Rusu continued, "as well as to longevity in serving clients in the industry for which the certifications are required."

Cloud Computing Journal: The move to cloud isn't about saving money, it is about saving time. - Agree or disagree?

Greg Rusu: It's about both. Cloud saves money because clients can pay for just what they use. Cloud also saves time by allowing quick spin-up of infrastructure with today's automation capabilities.

Cloud Computing Journal: How should organizations tackle their regulatory and compliance concerns in the cloud? Who should they be asking / trusting for advice?

Rusu: The myriad of compliance requirements nowadays present a complex matrix of challenges for cloud adoptees. Clients should look for recognized certifications from their cloud provider, as well as to longevity in serving clients in the industry for which the certifications are required.

Cloud Computing Journal: What does the emergence of Open Source clouds mean for the cloud ecosystem? How does the existence of OpenStack, CloudStack, OpenNebula, Eucalyptus and so on affect your own company?

Rusu: This is a fantastic development for consumers of cloud because interoperability is sure to follow as API bridges are built between each platform.

Cloud Computing Journal: With SMBs, the two primary challenges they face moving to the cloud are always stated as being cost and trust: where is the industry on satisfying SMBs on both points simultaneously - further along than in 2011-12, or...?

Rusu: On cost, cloud offers more efficient capital utilization and affords SMBs professionally managed datacenters, helping to curb administrative overhead. Trust is slowly being built, and much of it hinges on uptime - uptime is far higher in professionally managed datacenters offering professional grade cloud services.

Cloud Computing Journal: 2013 seems to be turning into a breakthrough year for Big Data. How much does the success of cloud computing have to do with that?

Rusu: Quite a bit - Big Data computing is dynamic by nature. Few Big Data workloads can justify sustained investment in dedicated, always on, compute nodes and storage. Remember, in many cases, Big Data is unlike a typical web or database server that needs to stay online all the time. Big Data clients are also experienced IT users, and they know that cloud is able to provide dynamic resources when needed.

Cloud Computing Journal: What about the role of social: aside from the acronym itself SMAC (for Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud) are you seeing and/or anticipating major traction in this area?

Rusu: Cloud is an attractive platform on which to develop Social, Mobile or Analytics applications, due to its ability to handle dynamic workloads. The ability to stand up resources near the clients' target-market in a matter of minutes is another value for SMA adoptees.

Cloud Computing Journal: To finish, just as real estate is always said to be about "location, location, location", what one word, repeated three times, would you say Cloud Computing is all about? (Example: Scalability, Scalability, Scalability)

Rusu: Control, control, control