Industry group TM Forum has formed a consortium of major cloud services players to drive standards and boost take-up of cloud computing.
They have formed the Enterprise Cloud Buyers Council (ECBC), which will bring together service providers, vendors and enterprise buyers.
“By lowering the gating factors for widespread adoption of cloud services, the ECBC can accelerate the shift to the next era in computing,” ECBC executive director Eric Pulier said.
The group plans to develop common cloud services product definitions, and address issues such as security, interoperability and data portability.
At present the consortium’s telco members include AT&T, BT, Telstra and Telecom Italia, along with vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, EMC and IBM. Enterprise users such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Deutsche Bank have also joined.
“The demand for cloud services holds significant potential for the industry,” TM Forum CEO Keith Willetts said.
“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.”