Interoperability: A Much Needed Cloud Computing Focus

Second Government Cloud Computing Survey

By G C Network | April 1, 2009

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of presenting at the Sys-con International Cloud Computing Expo in New York City. My presentation, The View from Government Cloud Computing Customers, reviewed…

Navy NGEN and Cloud Computing

By G C Network | April 1, 2009

I spent half of today in downtown DC at the Navy Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) Industry Day.  In case you’re not familiar with NGEN, this project will be the follow-on…

An Ontology for Tactical Cloud Computing

By G C Network | March 25, 2009

This week I’ve had the pleasure of presenting at two fairly unique conferences. On Tuesday I was in San Diego at the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) Workshop. SISO is…

Federal Cloud Computing Roadmap

By G C Network | March 24, 2009

ServerVault, a long time provider of IT hosting services to the Federal government, has been discussing cloud computing quite a bit with their current (and future) customers.  The repetitive nature…

Booz Allen Hamilton Lays Out Path To Cloud

By G C Network | March 23, 2009

Now that cloud computing is seen as a viable technology for the government marketplace, management consulting leader Booz Allen Hamilton is now providing cloud transition guidance. In his article “Cloud…

Is Sun Rising or Setting?

By G C Network | March 19, 2009

Today was strange. First Sun announces it’s open cloud computing platform. Sun Unveils Open Cloud Computing Platform “Sun on Wednesday announced plans to offer its own Open Cloud Platform, starting…

A Conversation with Emil Sayegh, Mosso General Manager

By G C Network | March 16, 2009

Last week, Mosso announced their new “Cloud Server” and “Cloud Sites” offerings. They also exited “Cloud Files” from beta, positioning themselves as a challenger to Amazon. With this as a…

Playing the Cloud Computing Wargame

By G C Network | March 12, 2009

Today at FOSE I tried my hand at balancing traditional IT, hybrid cloud offerings and commercial cloud offerings on a craps table. Just to set the scene, the Booz Allen…

Vivek Kundra Nominated for Federal CIO

By G C Network | March 10, 2009

Mr. Kundra’s quote from the Wall Street Journal says it all: “I’m a big believer in disruptive technology. If I went to the coffee shop, I would have more computing…

7th SOA for E-Government Conference

By G C Network | March 5, 2009

On April 28, 2009, Mitre will be holding its biannual SOA for E-Government Conference. This conference is one of the region’s premier opportunity for federal managers and MITRE Subject Matter…


https://www.ichnet.org/
Cloud computing transitions information technology (IT) from being “systems of physically integrated hardware and software” to “systems of virtually integrated services”. This transition makes interoperability the difference between the success and failure of IT deployments, especially in the Federal government.  Recent government IT failures like the healthcare portal roll out highlight this critical difference.

Leading specialists serving on the federal health IT committee have voice their concern about the lack of comprehensive interoperability. “I’m concerned that this program isn’t focused on creating an inter-operable system that would allow unaffiliated systems to share medical information,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said in an emailed statement to Fox News.
Being a very young industry, universally adopted cloud computing standards do not currently exists. While de facto standards are being pushed by some major cloud providers, other industry groups have initiatives focused on developing more open approaches. For now, each cloud provider is free to deploy their own technological solutions, providing little if any visibility to their customers. They are free to use different data types, query languages and data storage techniques.
Cloud computing industry success is dependent on portability and interoperability. Customers must shun any dependence on a vendor specific technology. They must also circumvent constraints associated with using resources outside of a selected cloud vendor’s infrastructure.
Interoperability Clearinghouse is working to address theses and many other interoperability related issues. Working as a non-profit organization, they are helping to advance the integration of both IT and communication infrastructures. It is a collaboration of industry standards groups, research and testing organizations, IT practitioners and solution providers. In today’s internet-scale IT world, stovepipe designs that do not address interoperability will not lead to successful outcome.
Sources:
https://www.icmgworld.com/corp/news/Articles/Tom/To06.asp
 

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