Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), the organization bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on systems management standards development, validation, promotion and adoption, today announced the availability of a new white paper entitled, “Interoperable Clouds – A White Paper from the Open Cloud Standards Incubator.” This white paper summarizes the current work within the DMTF Open Cloud Standards Incubator, including usage scenarios for cloud interoperability, the cloud service lifecycle and a cloud reference architecture. The white paper also highlights the incubator’s ongoing activities, including the formation of new sub-groups and upcoming informational specifications.

The “Interoperable Cloud” white paper is the first document released by the DMTF Open Cloud Standards Incubator. It will be followed by a series of informational specifications concentrating on cloud security, infrastructure protocols and data artifacts. The incubator has already formed new sub-groups to begin addressing these areas. The resulting specifications will address the interfaces between cloud service providers and cloud service consumers, and between cloud service providers and cloud developers – collectively known as the cloud provider interface. Cloud interoperability standards that result from this work will be designed to reduce lock-in and increase agility for cloud computing adopters taking advantage of a multi-provider, mixed cloud environment.

“Interoperability standards based on a common provider interface will make it much easier for cloud service providers to manage the pool of resources available to them,” said Winston Bumpus, DMTF president. “As cloud computing continues to be rapidly adopted, resource management will play a critical role in cloud providers’ ability to offer interoperable solutions for the cloud. By incorporating the collective input of a broad variety of leading cloud computing vendors, the recommendations being developed within the DMTF Open Cloud Standards Incubator are an important first step toward standardizing this space.”

DMTF’s Open Cloud Standards Incubator expects the cloud provider interface will encompass several major sub categories that make up the interface between cloud service providers and cloud consumers. These subcategories will ultimately be comprised of profiles that span object models and wire formats. The group anticipates that some profiles will be addressed through integration with other DMTF working groups, and through cooperation with other standards bodies.

The “Interoperable Cloud” white paper, along with the deliverables it outlines, is the culmination of several months’ work within the Open Cloud Standards Incubator. Since its launch in late April 2009, the group has been collaboratively analyzing various aspects of clouds and identifying ways to offer solutions that will accelerate the adoption of interoperable and portable cloud service offerings. The complete white paper is available for download on the DMTF Web site.