C loud computing has the promise of significant benefits that include reduced costs, improved service provisioning, and a move to a pay - per - use model. However , there also are many challenges to successfully delivering cloud - based services ; including security, data ownership, interoperability, service maturity and return on investment . These challenges need to be understood and managed before attempting to take advantage of what the clo ud has to offer. In this paper we introduce a nine - step cloud life cycle that can be used for both the migration and the ongoing management of public , cloud - based services. A consortium of organi z ation s using an open - innovation app roach developed the life cycle. This paper describes each step of the life cycle in terms of the key challenges faced, and the recommend ed activities, with resultant outputs , needed to overcome them.