Notes from CloudCamp and The Open Group in Toronto
Chris Harding
The second Toronto Cloudcamp was held on July 22, hosted by The Open
Group at its conference venue. Here are some notes from an Open Group
participant.
Cloud has been an important theme at several recent Open Group
conferences. Toronto marked a milestone for us. We formed our Cloud Work
Group, and we hosted the CloudCamp. (See
http://www.opengroup.org/toronto2009-apc/ for an overall description of
the conference.)
The Cloud Work Group will:
- create a common understanding among buyers and suppliers
- of how enterprises of all sizes and scales of operation can
include Cloud Computing technology in their architectures
- in a safe and secure way
- to realize its significant cost, scalability and agility
benefits.
The direction of the group is determined by Open Group members, but you
don't have to be a member to participate - everyone can join in the
discussions. You can find out more at
http://www.opengroup.org/cloudcomputing
The CloudCamp was ably led by Scott Radeztsky. We started with a general
session in which Scott welcomed everyone and invited volunteers to step
forward to give brief lightning talks and answer audience questions in
an unpanel. He then identified 16 topics of interest for which
volunteers offered to moderate unconference sessions.
I joined the one on Cloud APIs. This reviewed the kinds of product
offered by the main Cloud suppliers, and distinguished the platform
APIs, which in many cases conform to standards such as linux and java,
from the application-level APIs, which are typically proprietary. This
was done based on the combined experience with the products of those
present. I found it an excellent source of information and insight.
There was a break for refreshments, after which I went to a session on
user requirements. This built on work done in The Open Group towards a
Cloud Computing business scenario. It looked at pain points that
customers suffer from not having cloud computing. These were grouped
into 9 categories, to which the session assigned importance weightings:
- Resource Optimization (People and Technology) - 14
- Cost - 30
- Timeliness and Agility -6
- Business Continuity - 13
- Risk Management - 13
- Security - 12
- Innovation - 10
- Compliance - 8
- Quality of IT (Support) - 3
Following the sessions, everyone assembled to wrap-up the proceedings.
Each unconference session leader delivered a summary. These identified a
number of issues, including needs for openness, interoperability and
security. But the theme that was mentioned most was the need for
transparency. Customers need clear and reliable information about cloud
products, including about their interfaces, their security, their
quality of service, and their contractual terms, especially in relation
to providers' rights to customer data.
We in The Open Group feel that the the CloudCamp was a real success, and
a stimulating addition to our conference. We look forward to working
with CloudCamp and other cloud communities going forward. Thank you,
CloudCamp!
--
Regards,
Chris
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Dr. Christopher J. Harding
Forum Director
THE OPEN GROUP
Thames Tower, 37-45 Station Road, Reading RG1 1LX, UK
Mailto:c.ha...@opengroup.org Phone (mobile): +44 774 063 1520
http://www.opengroup.org
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