The Internet of Things (IoT) is here and CIOs may not be ready. There are standards, which may have not even been considered at this point, that are critical to ensure cloud-to-cloud integration security and success.
Bringing Awareness
Organizations like IPSO Alliance, the Cloud Industry Forum, and the Cloud Computing Association are playing a role in advancing cloud integration. According to some industry leaders, these standards organizations should start focusing more heavily on improving their market visibility and education efforts to make people aware of potential future difficulties.
The Impact of Complexity
The real problem is high-risk markets that have a lot to lose have been slower to emerge. These markets will most likely drive the new standards.
Currently, the market is controlled by single-point entities like scales, lights, thermostats, and more, instead of connected systems. The main problem is that many of these systems are independent of each other. You have areas like home security, telemedicine, demand response, and aging in place that are all unrelated. While each of them has come up with their own standards, there is no collaboration.
One commonality across these disparate groups is that security issues are going to be common and therefore a driving factor. This is one reason why the Cloud Security Alliance may be helpful in tying them together. Someday, when large industries with lots of money and risk, like banking, electronic health records, etc. come into play, standards will be driven by economic necessity and government regulation.
Who Will Benefit in the End?
The winners of cloud-to-cloud integration and standardization will most likely be suppliers and customers. Standardization will improve quality and allow faster integration timelines, more software reuse, and faster software production.
Conclusion
As IoT grows, standards will emerge for cloud-to-cloud integration. Security will likely be the driving factor as money and risks increase. In the end, these standards will make IoT cloud-to-cloud integration safer for everyone.
