The greatest challenge facing longer-term adoption of cloud computing services is not security, but rather cloud interoperability and data portability, say cloud computing experts from technical professional association, IEEE. IEEE experts also say cloud providers could reassure customers by improving the tools they offer enterprise customers to give them more control over their own data and applications while offering a security guarantee.
Many public cloud networks are seen to be configured as closed systems not designed to interact with each other. The lack of integration between these networks makes it difficult for organisations to consolidate their IT systems in the cloud and realise productivity gains and cost savings. To overcome this challenge, industry standards must be developed to help cloud service providers design interoperable platforms and enable data portability. These topics will be addressed at the forthcoming IEEE Cloud 2011 event, scheduled for July 4-9, in Washington, D.C.
According to industry research firm IDC, revenue from public cloud computing services is expected to reach $55.5 billion by 2014, up from $16 billion in 2009. Cloud computing is seen to play an important role in people's professional and personal lives by supporting a variety of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. These apps are used to store healthcare records, critical business documents, music and e-book purchases and social media content. However, lack of interoperability still presents challenges for organisations interested in consolidating a host of enterprise IT systems on the cloud.
As more organisations migrate IT services and systems to the cloud as a result of improved interoperability and portability, the market will reach an economic tipping point, it is expected. On average, it might cost an organisation about $500 per user to manage an enterprise e-mail system in-house, according to estimates.
In April 2011, IEEE's Standards Association announced its Cloud Computing Initiative, projected as the first broad-scope, forward-looking effort put forth by a global standards development organisation aimed at addressing cloud portability and interoperability.
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