Though cloud computing is known as a trendy technology, it is not in any way new in the computer networking field. The truth is that telecommunication companies were the first cloud service providers and they established some expectations for customers as well as industry standards for the past decades. Fast forward to 2015, the expectations remain unchanged; the standards of the cloud computing industry has been similarly modelled as in the Telcos, with some additions that are triggered by nature of operations and the transaction types that occur in the new cloud applications.
Definition of standard may be linked to the type of cloud computing in use. The cloud may be public, hybrid or private clouds. Also, the mandate around the private clouds requires loyalty to defined process and well established control frameworks. Documentation, backup controls, and Service Level Agreements (SLAs), as well as infrastructure libraries for service management and business integration must be made available. In the public cloud, there must be adherence to established frameworks as well provision for audits under various compliance acts.
Standards adopted may be determined based on the type of industry. The industrial standard may be dictated by the country or segment of operation and industrial vertical. For instance, the health care industry will be governed by HIPAA, while Sarbanes Oxley governs the financial industry in the USA and Canada. There may be sets of requirements and regulation by the industry itself for access control, security, protection of data, segregation of duties and lots more. The requirements for SLA may differ from one segment to another based on the amount of data processed, company size, and the kind of data. The regulation of the country, where the the company (or industry and/or service provided) is located may have an influence on the kind of standards adopted. Current tools and the available processes will also affect the standards adopted for the cloud. Implemented standards. You will need to consider customers and/or industry practises inside and outside the company / industry at the same time to refine the standards that should be implemented.
The current standards or requirements already established by vendors globally will have a huge impact on the standardisations and expectations. This is always obvious when software usage and licensing is involved. Industries need to always be mindful of the restrictions as well as the components that are not defined clearly; and also create practises that will not lead to unforeseen expenses, any kind of violations or breaches. For the fact that cloud is a combination of variety of technologies, standards need to be followed strictly, along with integrated compliance standards that may come up in the context.
In fact, cloud computing service providers must always investigate important areas for compliance and determine the minimum expectations from the regulatory authorities, clients, and competitors within the industry vertical.
