The Enterprise Architecture and Cloud Computing conference
stream was hosted by Scott Radeztsky, of Sun Microsystems, and Dave
Lounsbury, of The Open Group. It consisted of two presentations followed
by a business scenario workshop (see the main
APC report).
The business scenario workshop was conducted by Terry Blevins, of
Mitre. The Business Scenario technique of TOGAF™ can be used to gather
and represent customer requirements in order for the supply side to
better understand real needs of the customer side. The workshop in
Toronto focused on the pain points that customers experience through not
using Cloud Computing.
It was a lively session in which 45 pain points were identified and
grouped into categories, which were then ranked in priority order, as
follows.
- Timeliness/agility
- Resource optimization
- Cost
- Need to remove obstacles to innovation
- Security
- Risk management
- Compliance
- Need to improve quality of IT support
- Business continuity
The discussion of these pain points, and their context, provided an
excellent starting point for the development of the Cloud Business
Scenario.
Security and Identity in the Cloud
The stream on Security and Identity in the Cloud was a Joint
stream with the Security Practitioners Conference. It was hosted by Mike
Jerbic, of the Trusted Systems Consulting Group. It included three
presentations and a panel discussion (see the main
SPC report).
CloudCamp
CloudCamp is a series of events in an unstructured unconference
format, where early adapters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange
ideas. This CloudCamp was the second to be held in Toronto. It was
hosted by The Open Group, but organized separately from the conference,
and ably led by Scott Radeztsky of Sun Microsystems.
The CloudCamp was well-attended – 148 conference delegates and people
from the Toronto area who were interested in Cloud Computing signed up
to participate. It started with a general session in which Scott
welcomed everyone and invited volunteers to step forward to give brief lightning
talks and answer audience questions in an unpanel. He then
identified 16 topics of interest for which volunteers offered to
moderate unconference sessions. The meeting broke into groups to
discuss the first 8 topics, then regrouped to discuss the last 8.
Finally everyone reassembled for the moderators' reports.
Although the sessions were arranged and delivered on the spur of the
moment, they included some excellent discussions. For example, the
session on Cloud APIs reviewed the kinds of product offered by the main
cloud suppliers, and distinguished the platform APIs, which in many
cases conform to standards such as Linux and Java, from
the application-level APIs, which are typically proprietary. This was
done based on the combined experience with the products of those
present.
The sessions included one that added further Business Scenario input
to that gathered in the conference stream workshop.
A key theme that emerged from the summaries was the need for transparency.
Customers need clear and reliable information about cloud products,
including about their interfaces, their security, their quality of
service, and their contractual terms, especially in relation to
providers' rights to customer data.
Overall, the CloudCamp was a stimulating adjunct to the conference,
and an excellent source of information and ideas on cloud computing
issues.
Cloud Work Group
Cloud computing topics had featured strongly in this and recent Open
Group conferences; clear evidence of the importance of Cloud Computing
to The Open Group and its members. The Open Group had therefore decided
to form a Cloud Work Group, and this was launched at the Toronto
conference, through a spotlight session for all delegates in the
Plenary, and a presentation to Open Group members. The fitting out of
the new Work Group (to continue the ship-building analogy) will be done
following the Toronto conference, by electing its officers, and defining
its detailed work program, prior to the October conference in Hong Kong.
The Cloud Work Group is open to participation by everyone, but is
under the direction of the members of The Open Group. Members who wish
to participate should send email to the Work Group administrators (see Links
below).
Non-members who wish to participate should subscribe to the Cloudsters
list. (You will then be sent a password to enable you to access the
Cloud Work Group members' web.)
Now that the Cloud Work Group has formed, it will proceed to hold a
start-up teleconference, elect its officers, complete the business
scenario, and define a detailed work program.
The start-up teleconference will be held in the third week of August.
Details will be announced to the Cloud Work Group email lists.
The Work Group will have two co-chairs, one from the customer
council, and one from the supplier council. Arrangements for their
election will be determined at the start-up teleconference.
Work on the business scenario will proceed immediately. The completed
business scenario will be a key starting point for the definition of the
detailed work program.
The detailed work program will be developed in the light of the
business scenario and under the guidance of the co-chairs. It will be
presented for discussion by the customer and supplier councils at The
Open Group conference in Hong Kong, in the week of October 19.
