<p>Computerworld - The key to earning a positive return on investment when adopting cloud services -- including software-as-a-service and infrastructure-as-a-service -- is carefully studying costs and benefits to ensure that such a shift will pay off.</p><p>Sounds like many of the other IT projects you've shepherded, right? But it turns out it's incredibly complex to determine whether a move to the cloud will pay off for a given application. When done in haste, that analysis can lead companies to adopt the cloud for the wrong reasons, leaving them with higher costs or an inferior product when compared to an on-premises installation.</p><p>The good news is that despite all the hype around the cloud, it appears that many businesses recognize the dangers and are proceeding with caution.</p><p>"It is significant that the enterprise market is really moving to the public cloud at quite a glacial pace, and I think it's because they know ROI is much more complex than just the avoidance of hardware and software costs," says Marc Brien, vice president of research for Domicity, a consulting and IT analysis firm.</p><p><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9237452/Cloud_services_can_save_you_money_if_you_re_careful">Keep reading...</a></p>