For our series Handshake 2.0 Takes on The Cloud, we asked experts on cloud computing:  "From your point of view, what are - or will be - the benefits of cloud computing for small-to-medium businesses?"

Cameron Nouri, Evangelist at Rackspace Email & Apps replied:

"Small businesses don’t always have the time or money to invest in technology that larger businesses have. Cloud computing allows businesses to tap into computing resources that they otherwise would not be able to for one reason or another; it ultimately allows small businesses to do more with less."

As we mentioned in the introduction to our series on cloud computing, a division of one of the 10 Cloud Computing Companies to Watch is located in the hometown of Handshake 2.0.  That's Rackspace Email & Apps in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

In the top 20 companies on ComputerWorld's 2009 list of top places to work in IT, the only cloud computing company is Rackspace.  Rackspace announced on 6/11/09 that it handled 4.7 million web views in under two hours for a high traffic event, a "real world demonstration of the power and value of cloud computing."

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You can learn more about Rackspace on Handshake 2.0.  On Twitter, you can follow Cameron Nouri @cnouri, at @RackApps, and Rackspace @Rackspace.

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We're compiling links to Handshake 2.0's entire cloud computing series on our introductory post.

Catherine Fong contributed to this post.