Cloud — a major development in information technology
Cloud Computing is a major evolution in computing. An important stage in the development of IT systems, it is comparable with the emergence of the mainframe, the minicomputer, the microprocessor, the PC, the Internet, and the World-Wide Web. It is one of the new convergent technologies addressed by Open Platform 3.0™.
Read Cloud Computing for Business: The Open Group Guide.
Enterprises are adopting Cloud Computing because it can deliver agility, productivity, quality of service, lower cost, and the ability to take advantage of new business opportunities. What makes Cloud Computing really exciting is that its potential effect on business is not just incremental improvement but disruptive transformation, which it enables through new operating models.
The Open Group Cloud Computing Work Group is part of the Open Platform 3.0™ Forum. It works with other industry bodies to facilitate the growth of Cloud Computing and its deployment in enterprises. As you would expect from The Open Group, its focus is on secure architecture enabled by open systems. Its output is available from The Open Group Bookstore and on the Web.
Recognizing that cloud computing brings both potential benefits and concerns to businesses, The Open Group Jericho Forum® (now part of the Security Forum) has provided guidance on cloud computing usage; Jericho's Cloud Cube Model delivers important recommendations. The Security Forum continues to work on identity management challenges relating to cloud computing and collaboration.
Cloud computing now forms an essential part of Open Platform 3.0. The Open Platform 3.0 Snapshot includes basic architecture models for Cloud Computing, and for the composition of solutions that use Cloud together with other new technlogies.