ITSC ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

Open Standards Day 2010
“Discover Cloud Computing Standards”
Friday, 7 May 2010

Introduction

IETC, the Information Exchange Technical Committee (a subcommittee of the IT Standards Committee, ITSC) is organizing an industry roundtable. The objective of this event is to gather input for future Cloud Computing standards development in Singapore.

It is expected to draw 20 CXOs, senior IT strategists, implementers and technical-minded influencers to present their proposals to the committee, so as to determine the standards required to spur Cloud Compting adoption in Singapore.

The findings of this event will provide useful information for the technical committee to map out a work plan for standards development in Singapore.

Venue

The ITSC Roundtable will be held at:

Singapore Management University
81 Victoria Street
Administration Building, Level 4
Singapore 188065

Target Audience

The target audience is 20 pax. Attendance is free-of-charge. The primary target audience comprises:

Event Programme

Facilitator: Mr Harish Pillay (ITSC Council Member)

Organizer

• IT Standards Committee - for more information, please click here.

Is There a Case for Cloud Computing Standards?

Cloud Computing is a Web-based platform that offers application computing services to boost existing systems or power new Internet-based services and applications. Cloud Computing will allow developers build a new generation of global scale applications.

The Cloud Computing platforms promise instant deployment, instant scalability and instant 24/7 operation at a fraction of the cost of current IT systems. Organizations have the ability to deploy applications in the Cloud quickly and computing resources can be adjusted based on demand. Cloud based applications and services are offered either Software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service or Data-as-a-service.

Cloud Computing adoption implies transitioning in hardware and software platform, which has implications on developer skill-sets, storage technology, and computational and networking infrastructure services.

One of the legitimate concerns of organizations is whether Cloud Computing has the flexibility and ability to exploit their existing skills, tools and technologies.  Can organizations choose from a broad range of commercial or open source development tools and technologies, and access Cloud Computing services via common internet standards such as HTTP, REST, WS, JASON, etc.?

The Cloud Computing platform will imply a new set of interoperability issues at and between all levels of the platform such as:

• Data ownership. Who owns the data in the Cloud; can third parties view, copy, or seize the data?

• Data portability. Can data stored in the Cloud be exported, using consistent and appropriate formats?

• Application portability. Application portability means a variety of issues. One is portability from existing on-premise applications to the Cloud. Another is inter-Cloud application portability.

• Tool choice. Can developers choose multiple types of tools, languages, storage types across all clouds, or are we dealing with specific tools, languages, storage types for each Cloud?

• APIs. What are the types of infrastructures that can be made common across Cloud Computing architectures? Identity federation, for one. Any others?

• Standards.

• Identity management.

There will be 3 major issues to consider when implementing Cloud-based applications:

• Data storage.

• Programming languages / development environments.

• Identity management.

Presentations

9:40am - 10:00am
"Security & Assurance of Enterprise Data within Logical, Physical & Geo-Political Boundaries"
Speaker: Martin Yates (Chairman, SCS SIG on Enterprise Cloud Computing & Virtualization)

Abstract
This presentation will cover: what concerns Enterprise companies in terms of data hosting with external providers, what assurances are needed before leaping into the external cloud promise of lowers costs and greater business agility.

Biodata
Martin Yates is an independent enterprise technology architect delivering strategic planning and advisory support to key global brand name organisations. He also holds the appointment of Chairman of Singapore Computer Society responsible for Enterprise Cloud Computing and Virtualisation Special Interest group. Under this role Martin is tasked with representing and developing Singapore based IT professionals towards best practice cloud computing and learning experiences from within its Infocomm membership of more than 26,000 professional, management and academic members. Martin co-founded a Singapore based consultancy practice company Technicom (IT Solutions) Pte Ltd in 2004 focusing on performance based cloud virtualisation technology and application delivery solutions.

. . .

10:00am - 10:15am
"Exploring The Standards for SaaS"
Speaker: Lim Chinn Hwa (Executive Director, AkSaaS)

Abstract
In this talk, we will propose standards used for SaaS implementation.

Organization Profile
AkSaaS Pte Ltd, a former incubatee of A*STAR Exploit Technologies partners with Exploit Technologies, HP, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Microsoft and SingTel and launched Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers a staging area for testing and commercialisation of IT services.

AkSaaS is committed to be a leading SaaS provider of productivity applications for businesses by developing advanced automated applications as services. It seeks to create value for its customers through the development of effective and affordable applications widely used by all companies regardless of size – from start-ups to MNCs.

AkSaaS aims to transform the SaaS business platform into a powerful business environment to power any AkSaaS’ business operational activities efficiently and with high level executive business intelligence dashboard view for the business owner to make better decisions.

Biodata
Lim Chinn Hwa began his 17-year love affair with IT as a systems engineer with SCS, and moved into R&D environment working at a start-company from Stanford University. He founded Nothacker Pte Ltd in 2006 and renamed it AkSaaS in 2008 to reflect the direction of the business the company is moving into.

. . .

10:15am - 10:30am
"Easily Liberating Your Data through Loosely Coupled Standards"
Speaker: Chewy Chong (Head of Search, SEA, Microsoft)

Abstract
This talk is a discussion on how to liberate large sets of data through standard based approaches, and hHow loosely coupled APIs via the ODATA standard can help you achieve this quickly, as compared to existing SOAP or tightly coupled REST based approaches.

Biodata
Chewy Chong is the head of Search and Last Mile Innovation in the Online Services Group - Microsoft South East Asia. As the Head of Search for the Online Services Group in Southeast Asia, Chewy is responsible for the product management and promotion of Microsoft’s Search properties, including Bing and search advertisement. This includes growing awareness of Microsoft’s search capabilities, and helping people get the most out of their Internet experiences.

Chewy spends a significant amount of time identifying and understanding the different ways people use the Internet. He leverages these insights to help businesses better utilize search and the Internet to better communicate and interact with their customers. He also drives discussions with developers and government agencies to drive local innovation around search in Southeast Asia.

Chewy was previously a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft Singapore and worked closely with local innovators to develop customized solutions for their customers. He has more than 12 years’ experience in the technology industry, and has served in a broad range of roles. Prior to joining Microsoft, he was a consultant with a large multinational IT consultancy and was involved in several large enterprise projects in North America and Australia. He has also spent some time as a software developer.