If there’s an overhyped term today, it is cloud computing. Cautiously optimistic might be one way to describe some of those attitudes presented in this edition of Enterprise CIO Decisions: Many see the benefits, but costs, risk and uncertainty still prevail. At the very least, cloud computing is forcing IT professionals to innovate.

Regardless of the promise, cloud computing still ranks below server virtualization, disaster recovery and business continuity, and data protection, according to SearchCIO.com’s annual IT Priorities Survey. However, the 20% of IT shops that are already deploying cloud computing services will be better prepared to take advantage of cloud services when the reality does finally catch up with the hype.