mation, "We're not giving you our data unless we know that the data secure." Customers need to know that their data is not accessible to other customers and that they are able to audit transactions. When selecting a cloud supplier, industry experts recommend looking at which industry-standard security protocols and encryp- tion the supplier uses. Encryption is the use of mathematical algorithms to reorder text SO that it is unreadable by anyone without the "key" or a particular algorithm. Some cloud providers might agree to security audits by independent standards organizations rather than by customers themselves. In addition to evaluating security and service quality, the ability to change suppli- ers and the difficulty of estimating the total cost of using cloud computing are matters that organizations consider when moving to a cloud model. Large applications might be proprietary, based on software the cloud IT staff created. This locks customers into a developer's platform and requires that customers rebuild the entire application they change vendors. Possible solutions include using applications that are based on open standards and including an escrow statement in the contract stating the circum- stances under which the customer has access to the developer's code. For example, if the developer were to go out of business, the application code would revert to the customer. Cloud Computing Fees The pricing structure for most cloud computing providers is typically based on the number of transactions and the number of users for a given application. Customers that contract with providers for e-mail or other data applications pay by the hour or by the gigabyte for CPU (computer processing unit) gigabytes consumed. In addition, cloud providers often charge an implementation fee and might charge developers who use their platform to develop applications for bandwidth consumed on the provider's Internet connections. The lack of large up-front fees can be a challenge for startup developers creating applications for the c