CloudCamp is an unconference where early adopters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. With the rapid change occurring in the industry, we need a place where we can meet to share our experiences, challenges, and solutions. At CloudCamp, you are encouraged to share your thoughts in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals, and vendors are all encouraged to participate.
Summary
The CloudCamp was hosted by The Open Group but run as a separate event, facilitated by CloudCamp organizer Dave Nielsen. There were around 150-200 participants, including conference delegates and other people from the San Diego area who happened to be interested in the Cloud.
Dave started by going through his definition of Cloud Computing. This was followed by eight "lightning talks" -– five-minute presentations covering a wide range of topics, including:
How to get started with Cloud (Margaret Dawson, Hubspan)
Cloud-based geographical mapping (Ming-Hsiang Tsou, San Diego University)
A patterns-based approach to Cloud (Ken Klingensmith, IBM)
Efficient large-scale data processing (AlexRasmussen, San Diego University)
Using desktop spare capacity as a Cloud resource (Michael Krumpe, Intelligent Technology Integration)
Cost-effective large-scale data processing in the Cloud (Patrick Salami, Temboo)
Cloud-based voice and data communication (Chris Matthieu, Tropo)
The participants then split into groups to discuss topics proposed by volunteers. There were eight topics altogether. Some of these were explanations of particular products or services, giving participants an excellent opportunity to learn the finer details from experts. Others related to areas of general interest such as data security and access control, life-changing Cloud applications, and success stories relating to “big data”.
In a final wrap-up session, the leaders of the discussion groups summarized their conclusions for the benefit of all participants.
Outputs
The meeting produced no formal outputs.
Next Steps
Overall, the CloudCamp was a great opportunity for people to absorb the language and attitudes of the Cloud community, to discuss ideas, and to pick up specific technical knowledge. It gave an extra dimension to the conference, and we hope that this can be repeated at future Open Group events.
