Transparency is a much-abused word these days. In government circles, it seems, transparency is both a promise and a dare. The debate over health care, and the political machinations it put on display, showed how it's possible to have too little transparency and too much at the same time, at least in the political context.

Be that as it may, transparency is a vital concept when it comes to cloud computing. Indeed, at this stage in the evolution of the cloud, transparency is one of the most important criteria by which to judge a cloud computing engagement. That's because performance and security are two of cloud computing's most elemental and essential offerings.

There is another political punch line that is appropriate to the discussion of cloud computing, and it relates directly to transparency. "Trust but verify" is a phrase President Ronald Reagan adopted from a Russian proverb, and used as a negotiating philosophy.

Trust is the first threshold cloud computing had to cross, at the conceptual level: Will the business model work? Will it last? Now that cloud computing has proved its mettle, the trust imperative has more to do more with partnership: Whom should I work with, and why?

Transparency (the verification part) is how you get there. It's important to understand how your potential partner's cloud environment is designed in terms of redundancy, scalability, and how services are provisioned. A way to monitor performance on a real-time basis also helps. It's also important to know the level of security your partner is operating at, and how it is determined.

Transparency and trust may be Machiavellian ploys in politics, but they are vital elements of a successful cloud computing strategy.Transparency is a vital concept when it comes to cloud computing. Indeed, at this stage in the evolution of the cloud, transparency is one of the most important criteria by which to judge a cloud computing engagement. That's because performance and security are two of cloud computing's most elemental and essential offerings.