Standards Organizations

For cloud computing to mature, it needs standards. Luckily, there are a number of important organizations that are working hard at bringing vendors together to help the process evolve. Here are some you should play attention to.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a U.S. government agency that focuses on emerging standards efforts. This organization has done a considerable amount of work defining and providing good information on cloud computing. Check out its website at www.nist.gov/itl/cloud/ .

OASIS

Creating standards takes a lot of work — often volunteer, financially uncompensated work by dedicated people determined to get things right. People who sit on standards committees deserve the undying gratitude of the rest of us. We thank you, standards committee members.

OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards is a global consortium focused on the creation and adoption of standards for electronic business. The consortium is a nonprofit organization that relies on contributions from its member organizations. OASIS creates topic-specific committees that are beginning to focus on cloud computing. Check out its site at www.oasis-open.org .