Many companies are hesitant about embracing cloud computing. While the concept allows companies to store data off site, enabling startups to build their businesses without significant investments in equipment, many companies don't want to give up control of their data. Business Week reports that in many cases, IT companies are introducing a new idea--private or internal clouds that give a company complete control over their information and the security to protect it.

"Solving security is a trust issue that can be surmounted, but the legal issues around location cannot be," Scott McClellan, vice-president and chief technologist for scalable computing at HP, tells Business Week. "There are also items, such as corporate data for financial results during a quiet period, that aren't going to leave the enterprise walls."

A number of IT companies--HP, Sun Microsystems and IBM--are pitching internal clouds along with the idea of turning some internal computing tasks over to external ones. The idea of a hybrid system, with some data inside a company and some of it outside, sounds like it might be a perfect solution for a company that is gun shy about turning everything over to another entity. It may be just within the comfort zone of some companies.

For more on cloud computing:
- check out this BusinessWeek.com article

By: Judi Hasson for .

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