Due to the complexities in formulating an optimal cloud strategy, these answers are hard to come by. “Among CIOs, the decision is akin to a religious debate, with starkly different points of view,” said Prasad Sankaran, a partner at Bain and Company and a member of the consulting firm’s global Enterprise Technology practice. “The goal is to make a decision that makes sense for that organization, based on its core IT systems first and foremost. Once decided, however, the result is often a cloud strategy that is sui generis—inherently one-of-a-kind.”