pdates are not always applied automatically. It's at the discretion of IT staff as to when to install updates and whether to test updates before making them available to corporate staff. www.TechnicalPDF.com When applications are in the cloud, cloud software automatically applies updates. This can be disruptive as the user interface may be changed or customers may not be informed in advance about an upgrade that affects how users interact with an application. For example, users may have been trained to access information in a database a certain way or to use particular commands in a spreadsheet application. Additionally, and more critically, a staff person's computer operating system and hardware needs to be compatible with updates. This can be a problem with older computers and operating systems. Provider "Lock-in"-Moving Applications between Providers Often, organizations that consider using the cloud for particular applications are concerned about portability. Customers may wish to change providers because of factors such as costs and service. Others may want to move from a more limited hosting environment to a fuller service cloud provider. Another layer of complexity is that all applications are coded to a particular operating system, and operating systems are dependent on the resident hardware characteristics. Without changes, some applications might not be compatible with hardware located in a provider's data centers. A healthcare company moved its applications from Rackspace's hosting environment to Amazon. The transition required 6 months of recoding software and Application Programming Interfaces to make them compatible with Amazon's data centers. It additionally involved training staff on how to access applications on Amazon. Various consultants and developers offer software or consulting services to assist customers in moving applications between providers. Privacy Internationally-Data Transfers www.TechnicalPDF.com When organizations move applications to the cloud, they are required to follow privacy