Grids, Clouds & Service Infrastructures

In recent years the emergence of the Internet as a communications platform offering near universal connectivity has led to significant changes in the way that IT systems are designed and operated. The emphasis is clearly shifting away from dedicated hardware and networks to support specific applications towards more flexible approaches which promise greater resilience and scope for optimising operations. Grid computing has built on earlier advances in distributed systems to allow effective sharing of computing resources, particularly in scientific applications. This is now making a critical transition towards commercial adoption through a fusion with Service Oriented Architectures into what is now commonly referred to as Service Oriented Infrastructure. The technologies and capabilities which come together in Service Oriented Infrastructure offer a solution to long-standing business needs for efficiency, but a flexible infrastructure also supports the growing need to be able to make rapid changes to systems and processes to respond in a competitive business environment.

Combining Internet connectivity with highly scalable hosted computing services, generally with usage-based charging, is now being referred to as Cloud Computing. This has been supported by the increased flexibility offered by virtualisation of computing resources. Major investment by providers of computing and storage resources has stimulated considerable interest in this topic which is seen as the next step in the development of a future service-oriented ICT infrastructure.

Telecommunications operators are beginning to expose more advanced capabilities of their networks for use in both internal and third party services, generally following service-oriented principles. As the telecom and IT worlds converge, there may be radical changes in the way that ICT infrastructure is provided and used on a global scale. Increased embedding of computing and storage into the Future Internet could offer cost-effective and flexible access to highly scalable resources offered by a range of infrastructure providers. This could allow enterprises, including SMEs, to offer services based on Cloud resources with low initial cost but with the ability to rapidly scale up in response to surges in demand.

Although nowadays grid and cloud infrastructures exist, overcoming barriers such as software portability and interoperability between infrastructure providers is required if the full potential of the grid and cloud visions is to be realised. Users of cloud resources would then be able to choose among different service providers according to their needs, including performance, dependability, geographical spread and cost. This will require appropriate standards to be developed, with broad consensus building across industry sectors, public authorities and academia. Some work in this direction is already beginning in bodies such as ETSI and the OGF-Europe.

The aim of this Workshop is to bring together experts from industry (Telecom and IT), research and standardization to explore the emerging trends around "Grids, Clouds and Service Oriented Infrastructures" to promote common approaches and to prepare the way for cooperative standards development.