Don’t wait for EU cloud computing standardisation

That's the warning from managed services and cloud computing provider Advanced 365, which believes that vendors' vested interest are going to delay, if not fatally wound the EU's efforts to achieve an open and standardised approach. "If these proposals are successfully implemented, they have the potential to accelerate cloud adoption throughout Europe and enable more organisations to access state-of-the-art technology on demand," comments Neil Cross, managing director of Advanced 365. "However, given that there are a number of major IT organisations who have a vested interest in shaping the future of the cloud, the EU is likely to face opposition to making its proposals come to fruition in the near term," he adds. He worries that SMEs – already cautious about adopting cloud approaches – may miss out on increasingly popular, flexible and low cost on-demand applications. "At present, many SMEs remain unsure of what the cloud is, which could lead to them being left behind by their competitors. Our concern is that they will decide to put their cloud computing plans on hold indefinitely until the EU's proposals are finalised - which could take years."