Cloud computing is a pretty old idea according to the standards of IT, which, however, has only recently gained wide popularity and use. At that, according to most experts, the real "finest hour" of cloud computing is yet to come. However, the situation with the "clouds" in the global and domestic markets is not entirely cloudless. In this article (apart from a brief review of the history and the essence of cloud computing), we will focus on the immediate prospects of the development of cloud computing in Russia and in the world, and the main problems of their improvement and implementation, including the problems of not technical but legal implication. At the end of this article, it is concluded that at present the use of cloud technology in all spheres, from simple document storage users to large business systems - is a compromise between the broad capabilities on the one hand, and certain risks on the other. Of course, that's looking to the cloud and from the economic point of view: the balance between their apparent attraction of investment and financial risk of such investments is not yet found. On preparing this article we used the research data produced by such relevant research companies as Gartner and Forrester Research, as well as the reports of Russian experts in this field. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-6-7