Major users to form Enterprise Cloud Buyers Council (ECBC) as the core driver
Cloud service providers and technology suppliers to join with users to collaborate on a comprehensive program for accelerating commercial availability of managed and secure cloud services
ORLANDO, FL, USA – December 8, 2009 – TM Forum, the world's premier industry group focused on business effectiveness for the communications and media sectors, today announced the formation of an ecosystem of major industry players in the emerging cloud services sector. The centerpiece of this effort is the creation of the Enterprise Cloud Buyers Council (ECBC) whose goal is to understand the needs of the largest global cloud buyers and ensure any impediments to the uptake of cloud technology are removed. Together with key service and technology suppliers, the ecosystem will initiate a range of programs designed to remove barriers to the growth of commercial cloud services.
Among the enterprise buyers joining this effort are Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Deutsche Bank.
“Cloud computing has the potential to have a significant influence on enterprise IT in the type, quality and price of the services we create and consume,” stated Sean Kelley, Global CIO for Deutsche Asset Management. “But a number of challenges remain."
“The ECBC represents an opportunity to affect the global information technology marketplace, bringing transparency and efficiency to the relationship between buyers and sellers,” said Eric Pulier, Executive Director of the ECBC. “By lowering the gating factors for widespread adoption of cloud services, the ECBC can accelerate the shift to the next era in computing.”
The ECBC will seek to understand the needs of commercial cloud services buyers, set strategy and launch specific work programs. All work on specific projects will be done collaboratively within the broader eco-system, with the buyers providing guidance and best practice requirements.
So far Alcatel-Lucent, Amdocs, AT&T, BT, CA, Cisco, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia Siemens Networks, Telecom Italia and Telstra have agreed to join the program as well as industry organizations including DMTF (for resource management) and itSMF (through itSMF UK) with their focus on service delivery.
“The demand for cloud services holds significant potential for the industry, and it’s just at the start of its evolution,” explained Keith Willetts, Chairman and CEO, TM Forum. “However, there are a number of barriers that must be overcome before cloud can become a mass-market success, and the Forum is well-placed to act as an orchestrator to address these challenges.”
Several candidate areas for work have already been identified including:
• Common Cloud Services Product Definitions
• Cloud Security Issues
• Cloud-to-Cloud Interoperability, Data Portability and APIs
• Service Provider Benchmarking
• Buyer-demand Forecasting
• Federated Cloud Stores
• Cloud Service Level Agreement Process Management
• Cloud Network Performance and Latency Issues
Several proof-of-concept technology “Catalyst” demonstrations are planned as a way of accelerating development of solutions including one on Common Service Catalog definitions at the Management World Americas conference being held in Orlando, Florida from December 8-10th 2009.
