Interoperability likely to prove a bigger headache than security for cloud computing

Thursday, June 30, 2011

While many IT experts say that security issues are major stumbling block preventing more widespread cloud computing adoption, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers asserted recently that interoperability is a bigger potential hurdle.

"To achieve the economies of scale that will make cloud computing successful, common platforms are needed to ensure users can easily navigate between services and applications regardless of where they're coming from, and enable organizations to more cost-effectively transition their IT systems to a services-oriented model," said IEEE CIO Alexander Pasik.

IEEE experts also said that much of the concern over cloud computing security is overblown, and in reality, it's a loss of control that has IT professionals worried about the safety of their systems. There's nothing inherently more vulnerable about a cloud computing setup than an on-premise solution, they added.

Numerous outside experts have concurred, with some going as far as arguing that the cloud is actually more secure than equivalent traditional systems thanks to centralized access and the ability to layer defenses over fewer vulnerable points.