Regulatory compliance and use of cloud computing raise many questions, writes Edwin Schouten of IBM Global Technology Services. Can the cloud provider guarantee that data are erased once a service contract is terminated or when a single service within a contract is terminated? How does the right to audit apply to cloud providers? "Perhaps the future will bring an end-to-end scoped industry certification and continuous, fully automated auditing mechanisms that guarantee 'real-time' compliance," he writes.