Cloud Computing-Conversion Technology for Interoperability

Though the current cloud computing is in its initial stage of development, some established players, such as Amazon, Google, Salesforce.com, have captured market shares with their own strategies and standards. However, for a further development for this immature market, it has been proposed a general standard (like TCP/IP for internet) among cloud participants. There are some standards under drafting, but it seems impractical for established players to agree on a general one, for they already have their own standards. What´s more, the ongoing creation in the industry undermines standardization, On the other hand, each cloud provider is taking an active role in making its own API, for instance VMware´s vCloud, an open standard, but the cost is consumers´ lock-in. Thus, conversion technology seems to have a brighter future than standardization towards achieving interoperability. This study discusses various issues concerning the realization of interoperability by conversion technology. Primarily, an economic model is used for reference to analyze the market´s incentive to adopt such technology, especially in such a market with network effects. Then a sequence of issues regarding technique, economy, management, security and politics are put forward and discussed, ending with an outlook for the industry. These discussions have important implications for realization of interoperability under the current condition where standardization is somewhat costly and impractical.