Is the world ready for an open cloud manifesto?
Is it too early to talk about defining the cloud, and can we have an open cloud manifesto without Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce participating?
Follow @infoworldThe Open Cloud Manifesto, dedicated to the belief that the cloud should be open, launched with 36 firms signed on in support. That list of support now seems to have grown to nearly 140 companies, according to the Open Cloud Manifesto Web site. The document outlines core value propositions and basic definitions, points out challenges and barriers to adoption, lists a small set of goals, and then details a list of several principles of a maturing cloud -- all in about eight pages.
Up until now, there really hasn't been much of an attempt to lasso in what the term "cloud" means in the Wild West of IT. Like the term "virtualization," cloud has become part of the IT buzzword bingo phenomena, being tossed in and around marketing material of new products just for good measure. If you want to be hip, you need to be virtual or in the cloud!
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Clearly, defining and setting some boundaries around something like the cloud seems like a good thing. But is the world ready to define it? Do we know enough? Or is this document right? It concludes that the manifesto is meant to begin the conversation, not define it. It states that many of the details (taxonomies, definitions, and scenarios) will be filled in as the cloud computing community comes together. The manifesto authors argue that this is exactly the right time to begin the work needed to build the open cloud.
But even with 140-plus companies signing on the dotted line, there is a glaring hole with companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce.com making themselves absent from the party. Where are these early cloud adopters? Why have they not signed on to start the conversation?
