2015 - this is the year that has seen the sun well and truly shining on cloud computing services.

Thanks to some speedy technological advances in security leading to, and coupled with, increased confidence in the systems, as well as a wealth of network upgrades, more and more organisations are heading for the cloud.

Certainly it’s the answer to many a business’s techno prayer. Better agility, scalability, flexibility and workload distribution - all without extra IT costs - have been cited as more than enough reason to make the switch and the effect cloud computing has on the nation’s work practices can’t be ignored.

But the rush to bring in this whole new way of connecting has brought a whole new set of questions. Setting the security aspect (don’t mention celebrity photo leaks anyone) firmly aside, many system administrators are wrestling with whether it’s best to hook up to a public or private cloud.

But doesn’t the very nature of the word imply something unfettered out there in the ether, viewable and accessible by all?

Well, no, not in computer-speak. A public cloud basically comprises a service or a set of services which are bought by an enterprise which uses a third party provider to deliver them through the internet.

This provider hosts the organisation’s application, data centre and servers (infrastructure) at its premises, sharing that infrastructure, carefully segregated to only allow authorised access, with other clients.

A private cloud - or an enterprise or internal cloud - is a non-shared resource which is pretty much an extension of an organisation’s traditional data centre optimised to offer processing power and storage for various functions. And because it’s based on site, an organisation has more control over the infrastructure.

So which would be best for your organisation? Aspects to consider include: workload usage patterns, regulatory issues, required service levels, business criticality of the applications to be moved to the cloud, and how integrated they must be with other functions.

It’s certainly not a cut and dried answer and, as with all major business decisions, requires careful consideration and weighing up of pros and cons.

Many companies today use hybrids - a bit of both - for there’s probably no one-size- fits-all solution, but here’s some things to think about.

Every business has a wealth of data absolutely critical to its survival. Product designs, legal documents, contracts - not the kind of thing you’ll want out in the public domain. The same goes for those legally or ethically obliged to protect customer information: think universities or schools, health care providers or insurance agents.

Many prefer to keep their file sharing systems, compliance documents and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) private, not least because relying on a third party provider comes with some risk. Pricings could be changed, they may have their own security breach, change their modus operandi or even go out of business; and no one wants their primary operations affected by a factor over which they have absolutely no control.

If something is critical to an organisation’s survival, it’s probably best to keep it in house.

Yet, some business operations do sit comfortably in a more public arena. Transient services, such as remote desktop, product demonstrations, marketing videos, webcasts and video conferencing, are all regularly accessed via the cloud.

Whether they go for public or private, there’s no getting away from the fact that, increasingly, companies of all shapes and sizes worldwide are switching to cloud computing and 2016 is expected to bring more specifically built applications built than ever before, with desktop applications coming second.

Also expected is increased developer focus on cloud-based services. Global software developer research organisation Evans Data Corporation estimates that only 25% of the world’s 18 million are developing for the cloud but it confidently expects this figure to rise next year.

In fact it says the cloud will dominate all IT talk over the coming year as more than 40% of enterprises migrate at least half of their workload and educational facilities follow closely behind.

There’s no doubt we are beginning to fundamentally rethink our relationship with data and the cloud.

For all those who love a business forecast, we can say it’s definitely cloudy with a chance of cash falls.