IEEE experts: The biggest challenge with cloud computing technology is interoperability

The biggest challenge for the long-term adoption of cloud computing services is not security, but the interoperability and data mobility of cloud computing, said a cloud computing expert at IEEE, the world's largest technology expert. At the same time, IEEE experts point out that cloud computing providers can reassure customers by improving the tools they provide to their enterprise customers, enabling them to secure security while further controlling their data and applications.

Today, many public cloud networks are configured as closed systems and are not designed to interact with each other. The lack of integration between these networks makes it difficult for organizations to combine IT systems in cloud computing to increase productivity and cost savings. In order to meet this challenge, people must develop industry standards to help cloud service providers design interoperable platforms for data migration capabilities.

Dr. Alexander Pasik, an IEEE chief information officer, was a supporter of cloud computing technology when he was a Gartner analyst in the 1990s, noting that "security is certainly a very important consideration, but it is not a factor that hinders its further adoption." To achieve the economies of scale needed to successfully promote cloud computing, public platforms should ensure that services and applications are easily manipulated regardless of where they come from, while enabling organizations to more economically transform IT systems into service-oriented models. ”

Revenues from public cloud computing services are expected to reach $55.5 billion trillion by 2014, up from $16 billion trillion in 2009, according to data from IDC, an industry research firm. Cloud computing plays an important role in people's work and life, and it supports the application of software as a service (SaaS), which is used to store medical records, key business documents, music and e-book purchases, social media content, and so on. However, the lack of interoperability poses challenges for organizations looking to merge a range of enterprise IT systems in the cloud.

Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University, director of the Research Center for Information Security Education, IEEE highest class member (fellow) Elisa Bertino points out that interoperability issues are more urgent than the customer's perceived data security problems. "Security in cloud computing is not the same as the security issues that affect the client network." Agencies do not suffer greater security risks when data is moved to the cloud. In fact, their data may be more secure in the cloud because vendors are technologists and their business models are based on data protection. ”

However, Steve O ' Donnell, the former global head of the UK Telecom Data Center and IEEE member, believes that most concerns are about the ability of IT managers to control. "There is now a lack of tools that enable organizations to manage the security and availability of the cloud in the same way as in the datacenter," he says. Businesses believe their data centers are safe and efficient, and they want to manage the security and availability of the cloud themselves, rather than outsource it to a third party. ”

The IEEE senior member, Dr Pasik, has suggested a creative solution to eliminate the concerns of agencies about data security in the cloud in a way that is similar to the FDIC's insurance approach. "Most Americans have bank accounts because they know their money is safe," he said. I think that with the support of the private sector, we can provide similar protection for cloud users over the next 10 years. ”

As interoperability and migration capabilities improve, more and more organizations migrate their IT services and systems to the cloud, and the market will reach an economic inflection point. Pasik points out that the average cost per user of an organization managing an enterprise's e-mail system internally is about 500 dollars. "While running cloud-based Enterprise e-mail services, the average user cost may be around 50 dollars." This 10 times-fold economic impact is a powerful business case for cloud computing technology, and it will remove systems from the network that are not directly related to the core competencies of most institutions. So why do we have to invest a lot of resources internally to support these systems? ”

In this regard, the IEEE Standards Association announced its cloud computing program in April this year, the first broad, forward-looking action plan developed by the Global Standards Development Agency to address cloud computing migration and interoperability capabilities.

(Responsible editor: Liu Fen)