IBM WebSphere, Sun Microsystems Novell Grid, and Platform Computing's Platform Symphony are among utility cutting platforms available, but differentiating utility computing from outsourced and hosted applications or services agreements requires a look to the future, in which big reductions in IT costs promised by the model will be sure to give the overachievers a huge competitive advantage. Questions that should be asked of IT staff, the COO, the internal audit department, the chief IT strategist, business executives, and possible vendors are offered. For instance, major vendors, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Sun, Akamai Technologies, Computer Associates International (CA), Employease, Evident Software, Perfect Commerce, Platform Computing, Salesforce.com, and Veritas Software, should be asked what backup measures are in place to assure business continuity, and IT staff should be queried on whether they are ready to move around more task-wise in the organization when they have been untethered from ongoing maintenance tasks. Companies are also advised to consider a move to a utility model for non-core business applications; network infrastructure; Web hosting; data storage services; and disaster recovery services. However, companies planning for utility computing should be aware of different utility styles (on-premise, dial-in, and outsourcing), and possible minuses with utility computing, which may include, among others, the fact that hosted applications can impact business process flexibility and functionality.