We hope to thoroughly demystify the phenomenon by exploring this new style of computing at length in a June/July double issue of Cutter IT Journal. In our special double issue, you'll learn what to look for in a cloud service-level agreement -- and what might be missing. You'll hear why, contrary to popular belief, cloud computing's security benefits outweigh its security risks. And you'll discover how advances in cloud computing architectures could ultimately enable enterprises "to outsource their entire IT infrastructure transparently, turning it into a controllable line item expense instead of a major capital investment." If that sounds good to you, join us and get your head into the cloud.

Cloud computing, touted as the next big thing in IT, promises to offer utilitylike availability of huge computing resources at low cost and with greater flexibility and scalability. In fact, cloud computing is already here and is marching toward mainstream adoption

-- Sara Cullen

• Read guest editor San Murugesan's introduction

In a study completed by Edward Tufte, the American statistician and design expert, results showed that PowerPoint slides used only 30%-40% of the available space for unique content. The remaining space was occupied by chart junk -- see recipe, above. This low-resolution format produces sparse content per slide that inhibits spatial reasoning. Consequently, audience members are subjected to a barrage of content-lacking slides and left grasping for context that cannot be offered by the limited space available on each slide.

In the first installment of “The Convergence of Information Security, Privacy, and Compliance” (Vol. 22, No. 4) we asked, “How can … information security, privacy, and compliance areas collaborate to make initiatives most successful?” Clearly a lot of authors (over 20!) wanted to take a crack at answering that important question, so in our upcoming August issue, we’ll present more of their insights on information security and privacy convergence.

You’ll discover how a midsized online retailer, still reeling from lawsuits and a highly public data breach, righted its course by implementing a formal risk management program with information security, privacy, and regulatory compliance components. You’ll hear from a professional penetration tester, who will tell you why it’s in your best interests to have someone like him (or your own IT professionals) break into your network — and how such tests can benefit everyone from compliance and security employees to your audit and legal departments. You’ll even learn how a “global governance” approach can enable you to bring “diverse economic, political, professional, and educational resources” to bear on your organization’s security and privacy compliance challenges. Join Cutter Senior Consultant Rebecca Herold, one of Computerworld’s “Best Privacy Advisers” of 2008, for a closer look at why this topic should be at the forefront of your agenda.