Cloud Hopping is the Key to Cloud Computing

For Cloud Computing to really take off, there needs to be a flexible market around it (new to cloud computing? See what is What is cloud computing?). Outsourcing computing/processing makes good sense, but only if you aren’t locked into one supplier. The same is true for SaaS services based on a cloud infrastructure. If your provider goes down, what do you do?

Enter GigaSpaces latest offering, essentially a new services framework. It is in its early private beta stages, with news slipping out via GigaSpace’s employee Dekel, in his blog post here. To quote:

This framework is designed specifically for cloud portability. EC2 is only the exciting beginning and expect CohesiveFT, Flexiscale,GoGrid, Joyent, RightScale and more to follow soon.

This may be the beginning of a “write once, run many” framework for web services, allowing easy portability. Geva Perry (another GigaSpaces employee) seems keen to manage down expectations in his post on the matter. However, Cloud Guru James Urquhart has also picked up the issue (portable PaaS).

Of course, you’re still locked into one platform, but at least it runs across many providers… For this to really take off, some more open standards need to emerge. Keep a sharp eye on the space!