Vendors are always talking about cloud this and cloud that, as if you're all the same. Well, maybe to them, you are but wavy company in every sector has different needs for IT, and so different needs for cloud technology.

The Reg got together with UK cloud provider Star to create a Regcast - or, to be more accurate, three standalone Regcastlets - about how cloud works in three types of business: retail, media, and professional services. Star's Grant Tanner takes us through what those businesses lack, where they can use cloud effectively, and what the business and IT problems that they will need to solve will be.

Enjoy each Regcastlet as a tasty Reg-flavoured snack, or order up the full three-course blowout. At 20 minutes each you can easily fit one in during half time in a game of football, or watch one over a quiet pint in the pub while you wait for your useless mates to show up. Of course we recommend you stay in, make a night of it and do all three - but it's up to you.

In part one, Grant explains how retailers need to keep track of customers through a number of channels; how shops have computers, but not support engineers and the problems that causes; and how cloud can take care of the basics, leaving IT staff time to innovate.

In part two, we turn to media, where Star's customers need to share large files efficiently, work with different virtual teams under short deadlines, and cope with a wave of mergers and acquisitions without missing a beat.

Finally in part three,Grant talks about those clients who need to bill by the hour for high-value work. Often they're not in the same location, don't have a dedicated IT staff, and yet still have to comply with security and compliance standards. If you don't want to spend your life managing software licenses rather than client relationships, this might be for you.