NIST Ramps Up Cloud Computing Roadmap Efforts

NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology which first helped settle the cloud definition debate, is ramping up their efforts to finalize the US Govt. Cloud Computing Technology Roadmap. US Govt. is one of the largest IT customers with a $80 Billion budget and they plan to use at least $20 Billion on cloud computing. The current administration is very much focussed on tapping into the cloud to streamline the functioning of the government and, also, to drastically cut costs associated with the maintenance of their data centers. NIST’s cloud computing technology roadmap is the blueprint for how different federal agencies can take advantage of the cloud effectively.

Recently, a member of cloud computing community asked me if I am surprised that a government agency is leading the charge in setting the path and tone for cloud computing while it is natural to expect private sector to take the lead. My response is that I am not surprised. Unlike many for whom government is an anathema, I have no problems with it politically. As far as I am concerned, it doesn’t matter who takes lead in setting the path as long as it is advantageous to the end-users. Whether it is the markets or the governments, they need to solve the needs of people on the ground and NIST did exactly what the end users were looking for, ie. Putting an end to the mindless debates on what is cloud computing and, instead, focussing on setting a tone about how it can be done. If private sector is hindering the innovation due to their varied business interests, I have absolutely no qualms in a government agency stepping in to define the path. NIST is doing this role very well and I applaud their efforts in taking computing to the next level. In fact, they are perfectly suited for the purpose because federal government, in this case, is coming from the buyer side and there is nothing wrong in a buyer with $80 Billion IT budget taking a lead role in shaping the market.

Federal News Radio has an article that talks about the thought process involved in NIST’s efforts and how the Roadmap is being defined. Interested readers should check out the article to understand where they are going in this regard.

“We are procuring cloud long before we have the standards to help define these products and these markets and that can get in the way of adoption since meeting requirements have to be dealt with in a messier, ad hoc way. It also puts pressure on standards development,” said Patrick Gallagher, NIST’s director at the workshop. “This results in the classic trade off, the same standards and requirements that can make markets work so effectively if done at the wrong time, can also get in the way of innovations and a rapidly developing innovation space. Ultimately, our goal is to make is substantially easier to buy, secure, transfer, interconnect and use cloud-based services.”

It is time we move beyond the debate of “whether private clouds are clouds” to how organizations can leverage cloud computing effectively to accelerate their business while also cutting down on the costs. If a government organization like NIST is going to show us the path, I wholeheartedly welcome the efforts and, probably, private sector should take it as a clear warning sign that the stagnation induced by some of the players is hurting the end users and steer clear of silly FUD and marketing hypes. It is time for them to innovate at a rapid pace and take us to the next level of computing rather than dragging us behind in terms of technology innovation.

Related articles

• Draft roadmap for cloud computing technology (eurekalert.org)
• NIST releases draft cloud computing technology roadmap for comments (physorg.com)
• NIST Releases Federal Cloud Roadmap, Architecture (cleanclouds.wordpress.com)
• NIST Releases Federal Cloud Roadmap, Architecture (informationweek.com)
• NIST Releases Federal Cloud Roadmap, Architecture (informationweek.com)
• NIST: We’re from the government and we’re here to help (gigaom.com)