ODCA Releases 5 Cloud Computing Usage Models

In an effort to address some of the most pressing cloud computing challenges and requirements its members have identified, the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) has released five new usage models, available for download now.

These new usage models are designed to help better manage security and infrastructure issues across cloud computing applications, while at the same time identifying the specific innovations and standards that are required for widespread adoption of cloud services, says Allyson Klein, ODCA representative and a director with Intel.

"Members are committed to using usage models to guide their planning and purchasing of cloud services for internal cloud deployments, as well as public cloud services." she says. "Vendors can utilize the usage models to help integrate requirements into future solution delivery plans. The alliance expects that members will use the usage models to begin [proof-of-concept] testing of some requirements immediately and deployments of solutions starting later this year."

Klein identified the five new usage models as:

1. Identity Management Interoperability Guide 1.0

2. Cloud-Based Identity Governance and Auditing 1.0

3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Privileged User Access 1.0

4. Cloud-Based Identity Provisioning 1.0

5. Single Sign-On Authentication 1.0

According to the alliance, the security usage models will help drive interoperability between identity management and access management systems. This will allow users to utilize resources in the cloud as if they were located within the organization. The fifth usage model focuses on long-distance virtual machine migration, which provides information about enterprise expectations for availability, scalability and extendability of their data during migration.

The ODCA was formed in late 2010 as an independent consortium of global IT organizations that share a common interest in cloud computing security, infrastructure, management and service delivery. Steering committee member organizations include BMW, China Life, China Unicom, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, National Australia Bank, Terremark, Disney Technology Solutions and Services and UBS. Intel serves as the organization’s technical adviser. Its 300-plus member companies represent more than $100 billion in annual IT spend, according to the organization.

Since its inception, the alliance has focused on four main areas of concern about cloud adoption: security; cloud automation; management and regulatory compliance; and transparency of pricing and services to be sold. The new usage models were developed with the input of members of the security and infrastructure work groups, and include input from ODCA solutions provider members, standards organizations and general membership, Klein says.

The usage models are an effort to build on the alliance’s vision, first unveiled in 2011, to define IT requirements for open, interoperable cloud computing solutions, she says. In 2011, the alliance cited an IDC report calculating that if companies collectively spent $50 billion on cloud computing, that investment would return $25 billion in savings between 2010 and 2015.

"We expect members to develop proofs of concept to illustrate these models, and how they can be applied in the real world," says Klein. "From there it’s up to our members and the public to develop and implement solutions based on these requirements, and deploy them."

The new usage models are available for download at the ODCA website.

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