Cloud services offer businesses more agility, flexibility, and efficiency, but they do not eliminate risk or guarantee compliance. Ultimately, the responsibility for compliance and security rests with the business, even when the cloud service provider (CSP) offers protection. To safeguard data and reputations, organizations must continue to assess risk, compliance, and liability exposure as they expand into the cloud. Cloud-based solutions are not inherently less secure than traditional solutions, but the complexity of service agreements and the relationship between internal and external systems can make assessing compliance and security in the cloud challenging. Despite the hurdles, businesses should reap the benefits of cloud services, including cost efficiency, reduced operating complexity, and new ways for employees to collaborate. These benefits are especially important to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), for which economies of scale are more difficult to achieve than for large, global enterprises.