A Cloud by Any Other Name

Most of us have had the experience of travelling to acountry where we can’t speak the language and trying to function.  Except for a few words like “please,”“thank you” and “where is a restaurant” we are filled with a mix of excitement, uncertainly and confusion. 

That pretty much sums up where users are with respect tocloud computing services these days.  The brochure looks great but what’s the reality?  And while there the list ofuncertainties and questions is lengthy, one of the most basic issues is that of language. 

Today, the marketplace is filled with a baffling array ofterms such as public cloud, private cloud, internal and external clouds, hybrid clouds and on and on.  And for the most part, everyone defines these terms a little differently – sometimes to suit their own purposes.  Sometimes to obscure reality.

Within each of these terms are other names for various products and services.  And company A may not use a particular name the same way as company B.  In other words, ‘a rose is not a rose by any other name.’  This makes it impossible for a user to make a fair and honest comparison when trying to procure a given cloud service. 

This is one of the first problems the TM Forum’s Cloud Initiative will solve.  Starting with our soon to be announced buyers council, we will set out to define a consistent set of product and service definitions so users can compare offerings and make intelligent buying decisions. 

In parallel with this activity, our Cloud9 Service Model Catalyst demonstration at Management World America  is working to incorporate those common definitions into an Active Catalog environment so help automate the ordering, provisioning and delivery processes for Cloud Service Providers.

This is a very exciting time in the cloud space and TM Forum is poised to make a major announcement at Management World Orlando.  

I’ve been with TM Forum since its inception and been a part of countless press announcements.  Trust me – you don’t want to miss this one.