Not open enough
Last Thursday, Microsoft developer platform product manager Steven Martin blogged about a ‘Cloud Manifesto' that claims to lay down principles and guidelines for interoperability in cloud computing.
"Very recently we were privately shown a copy of the document, warned that it was a secret, and told that it must be signed ‘as is,' without modifications or additional input," blogged Martin.
"It appears to us that one company, or just a few companies, would prefer to control the evolution of cloud computing, as opposed to reaching a consensus across key stakeholders (including cloud users) through an ‘open' process. An open Manifesto emerging from a closed process is at least mildly ironic," he concluded.
Well it looks like the driving force behind this ‘open' manifesto is IBM, which is intending to launch it formally later today at the Cloud Computing Expo in New York platinum sponsors: IBM and Microsoft).
In a subsequent blog post today, Martin indicated Microsoft is still willing to discuss the concept: "...we have accepted an invitation to meet on Monday at 4pm in New York at the Cloud Computing Expo with other vendors and members of standards bodies," he said.
But it's not just Microsoft, among the giants of cloud computing, that is sceptical. A look at the list of supporters reveals a lot of heavyweight supporters, but some of the biggest, such as Intel, Google, HP and Amazon, are notable by their absence.
