The momentum for open cloud computing/ICT has accelerated as competition groups thrash out manifestos to prescribe how the cloud should develop.

Because cloud computing casts an imposing set of hardware and services into a common pool of industry development that embraces IT, wired and wireless communications, storage, consumer electronics, and dedicated disciplines such as emergency response and machine to machine/smart grid applications, several competing groups hope to hold sway on the direction of cloud development.

For example, discussions among the Open Cloud Manifesto group have dovetailed into definitions of use cases involving discrete choices of OS and databases. Members of the Unified Cloud Interface Project including Microsoft have fired back that they were not consulted in the drafting of the recently announced manifesto and that the group is not itself open to input.

Nonetheless, the momentum for Open Cloud ITC is building due to demand from users who are aware of the current capability to networks to support SaaS, VPNs and mixed services.  Cloud computing is made more relevant in these times of economic constraints as enterprises seek ways to do more with less. Organizations can buy into Cloud Computing as a service and to be used across locations with few constraints other than reliable broadband connections.

End user uptake of Internet-based services and social networking has become a driver for Internet and mobile services alike. These pressures compel Verizon and other operators to respond beyond the rhetoric of open networks to provide cloud-computing access over wireless broadband and mixed service access networks.

While Verizon is being very vocal about efforts to become a cloud-computing player, Sprint-Clearwire has been relatively quiet. The raw bandwidth capacity of Clearwire’s ‘broadband’ spectrum holdings combined with the orientation of WiMAX as it is being crafted in the hands of Clearwire’s partners including Google, Intel and Cisco, create a potential juggernaut of open cloud ICT/computing that AT&T and Verizon should find to be a strong competitor. The possibilities for the emerging WiMAX network to present itself as a champion of cloud computing are emboldened by the strength of spectrum, about 120 MHz in most markets in the US, and the expanded capabilities as WiMAX evolves toward IMT-Advanced, 4G.

Source: Cloud Computing Interoperability Forum, March 2009

The Cloud Computing Interoperability Forum advocates an open framework upon which various high-level applications environments are supported. These can be specific to a company, such as Amazon’s EC2, Elastic Cloud computing, Google’s App Engine and services, or open source providers, a source for much of the current innovation on the Internet and showing up in specific apps stores that operate on proprietary and open source standard devices.

Bottom Line:

• The cloud computing movement will add additional pressure for wireless networks to provide higher bandwidth and open access to services over IP networks.
• Standards are being established for cloud computing that clash with closed services.
• Commercial trends are likely to compel lower prices for wholesale data services.
• If taken advantage of, cloud computing/ICT will enhance Clearwire’s market position as a developer of a high capacity open IP network

For further links and discussion see:
http://www.agglom.com/set/67303/Open_CLoud_Computing_Meets_Mobile?refr=902

A new research paper, “Sizing up the Competitive Opportunities for Verizon and Clearwire,” explores the coverage, business models, and range of applications and impact on current business and competitors that will develop as the Verizon LTE and Clearwire WiMAX networks roll out.

For more information you can contact the author at robert@maravedis-bwa.com

Copyright © 2009 by Maravedis Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No reproduction without consent.



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