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Interoperability
Presently, the primary driver for standardisation across the industry, whether
amongst clients who feel they have a grasp of their data handling processes or not,
is that of interoperability - that is being able to switch their IT functions from one
provider's platform to another compatible platform. The current cloud market raises
many questions in this area for organisations: if it moves some of its functions to
one cloud provider will it then be locked into that provider for its associated
functions; can it integrate functions hosted with other providers; will this carry
prohibitive costs; can it switch workloads between different cloud services
seamlessly; will it be able to migrate away from its chosen provider if a more
preferable solution comes along? From a commercial point of view these are some
of the most pressing questions when choosing a cloud provider and so there is
gathering momentum across the industry, not just in Europe, to establish open
standards which free consumers to treat their cloud computing services more like
the utility computing that the cloud has long promised to deliver. In other words,
allowing clients to tap into different provider's services as and when they need
them, without lock-ins and without barriers.
There are many other aspects of a cloud proposition, in relation to performance,
uptime, storage space etc, that clients can have difficulty understanding and
comparing like for like. All of these issues demand clear and standardised SLAs to
come into play in order to define the language and metrics in which information can
be presented to clients. Form a client's point of view, however, the key is to seek
out reputable cloud providers, enquire about interoperability physical hosting
locations, use recommendations from clients with established relationships where
possible and steer well clear of ambiguities.