A single European cloud can’t work

At the Cloud for Europe conference held in Berlin, Neelie Kroes, the EU Digital Commissioner, spoke about the important role cloud computing can play across the European Union. The speech highlighted key areas that can help ensure organisations are able to take full advantage of the technology.

The speech, delivered on Thursday, set out the case for boosting cloud computing across Europe, with the Commissioner encouraging private and public sector organisations, as well as individuals, to look into the technology’s potential. It outlined the plans for public sector subsidies for the procurement of innovative cloud services and promised to analyse and where necessary bring down barriers within government organisations.
Kroes also addressed issues such as data privacy and data integrity, stating the importance of standards and certification to allow cloud users to see exactly what they are buying and levels of guaranteed service.

However, it was the new European cloud infrastructure across the continent that set alarm bells ringing for Peter Groucutt, Managing Director at Databarracks:

“The idea of a common infrastructure across Europe is on the face of it a good one. However, as we have seen, policies on government access to data mean it is unrealistic to think we will see sharing beyond national boundaries. These types of ‘community clouds’ only work when you have common needs, requirements and share the same constraints in terms of legislation.

“G-Cloud has been a great success by actually allowing UK Government departments access to more nimble, agile cloud service providers (CSPs), and breaking the oligopoly of the major players. A behemoth of shared systems is the exact opposite of what is proving to be an excellent model. Interoperability is key but not a single pan-European cloud storage system.

“There are plenty of positives from the Commissioner’s speech. The fact that cloud computing is now being regularly discussed in the upper echelons of the European Commission points to the high regard the technology is held by governments across Europe. The points around certification and transparency are important too. Ensuring that an end user is in possession of all the facts before entering an agreement with a CSP is crucial for the industry as a whole.

“The danger here is that there is an overly complicated procedure to secure certification, which plays directly into the hands of the larger players in the market. Europe should be looking along the lines of the Cloud Industry Forum’s (CIFs) certification process, which ensures all parties are covered without bias towards the huge biggest providers.

“Cloud computing should be playing a major role across Europe. It can bring huge benefits to the public and private sector, but one cloud infrastructure across the whole of Europe is never likely to be achieved.”