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The primary driver for the clouds, according to GIA, is factors such as growing prominence of enterprise mobility, need for business continuity, and increasing adoption of cloud strategy among SMEs.

The benefits of cloud computing are earmarked as “radically lower IT costs,” allowing “even smaller companies to piece together an IT project without spending on purchasing legacy server, and storage systems,” and ease from “the burden of developing and maintaining the technological expertise required in running the network.”

“By offering a more cost-effective, less risky, and fundamentally faster alternative to on-site application developments, cloud computing is poised to transform the economics of information technology in the next few years,” GIA said in its release.

GIA continued that cloud computing adoption is being accelerated given the recent economic recession because it can potentially slash IT costs by over 35%.

“The bad economy fed the global cloud computing services market as cash, and revenue starved companies prowled for IT solutions that are cost-effective, require minimum to zero investments, and low management of computing resources. Technically, the feature of multi-tenancy, or the ability to scale up or scale down services on demand, makes fiscal sense in tough economic climate. And with cloud computing fitting the bill in every respect, the business case for the technology stands exemplified. In short, recession became the push factor, which tripped the market into the mass adoption stage.”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/21/prweb8977106.DTL#ixzz1eW0e71jg

According to IBM, the Total Operations Center is an addition to Korea’s Jeju Smart Grid Test-Bed project, the world’s largest smart grid community established for smart grid research and testing. As part of the project development, KEPCO has leveraged the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Common Infrastructure Model (IEC CIM), a comprehensive and integrated management model that can be utilized by energy and utility companies worldwide during smart grid transformations.

“Operating the smart grid involves implementing a flexible management strategy that takes into consideration the various application standards, development speeds and requirements of that particular region,” said Park Jong-man, Deputy General Manager at the integrated control center of KEPCO’s Jeju Demonstration Complex. “This collaboration with IBM allows KEPCO to create a model based on international standards, such as CIM that can be used to infuse intelligence into any smart grid infrastructure.”

IBM provided consulting services and software to develop an integrated energy management system for the Total Operations Center. As part of the collaboration, IBM helped design guidelines for IEC CIM, creating an open standard for information exchange and management across the demonstration complex. This international information standards model is the most commonly used management model by energy and utilities organizations worldwide.

The Total Operations Center will integrate Rational Software Architect (RSA), an offering within the IBM Solution Architecture for Energy and Utilities (SAFE) framework, to create a service-oriented architecture for the Jeju Test-Bed. In using this solution, KEPCO can implement a standards-based system that incorporates existing applications, data services and hardware from participating members of the project. This will help build a flexible test-bed that enables data management and reporting for all of the systems and processes being tested.

Since joining the GIUNC in February, 2011, KEPCO has been working alongside other Coalition members to further the adoption of smarter energy grids around the world. The Jeju Smart Grid Demonstration Test-Bed project builds upon the Korean Government’s Smart Grid Strategy which focuses on greater energy security, sustained economic growth, and reduced environmental impact, by bringing together smart technologies across the areas of generation, power grid, electrical service, buildings and transportation.

Through the Total Operations Center, KEPCO will continue developing international energy service models such as dynamic pricing. Additionally, the 160 Korean companies and 11 consortia members of the KEPCO demonstration project can now leverage verified message and international standards guidelines and apply their results using this secure infrastructure.

IBM is helping to lead Korea’s smart grid transformation, contributing to the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy’s smart grid roadmap, and assisting in developing the strategic plan for the Jeju Demonstration Complex, alongside KEPCO and KEPCO-KDN. Additionally, IBM developed jointly with POSCO ICT, the country’s first integrated management system (EMS, energy management system) for renewable energy. IBM Korea is also a board member of the Korea Smart Grid Association.

Press release: IBM Continues to Advance Smart Grid Developments in Korea

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The new “Cloud Readiness Index” will analyse 10 key attributes critical to
the deployment and use of cloud computing technology across 14 different
countries. That includes the region’s acknowledged economic engine, China,
as well as Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

To further support the discussion, the association is also launching a
Cloud Map on its web site that will graphically illustrate the current
state of the cloud debate – charting and analysing the issues, the
stakeholders and influencers and how the debate is developing.

According to Bernie Trudel, Chairman of the Asia Cloud Computing
Association and Cloud CTO at Cisco APAC, the new index will be particularly
relevant to governments as they are charged with creating the conditions
for success – in their countries, around the region and across the globe.

“National public policy makers are starting to understand the benefits of
this new IT delivery model and how it can make their countries more
competitive. However, they might not necessarily yet understand the issues
that underpin cloud computing, or the impact that policy decisions, such as
data privacy or intellectual property protection, can have on the success
or otherwise of cloud computing,” said Trudel.

The attributes that comprise the first release of the index include:
1. Regulatory conditions
2. International connectivity
3. Data protection policy
4. Broadband quality
5. Government prioritisation
6. Power grid quality
7. Internet filtering
8. Business efficiency index
9. Global risk
10. ICT development

“Cloud computing is poised to help accelerate the momentum around trade and
economic integration here in Asia. However, to realise this potential, the
region needs to harmonise the policy and regulatory frameworks to
facilitate effective trade in digital information and services. It is
therefore necessary to have an active debate with an Asia focus. This is
what Asia Cloud is aiming for in terms of its overall mission and with the
Cloud Readiness Index,” said Per Dahlberg, founder and Chief Executive
Officer of the Association. “

Worldwide spending on cloud services is expected to reach US$150 billion by
2014 and spending on cloud computing is predicted to reach 30-40 per cent
of IT budgets by 2013.

“The knowledge economy will fuel Asia’s future. The cloud is the next great
‘leveler’. A general-purpose technology, it lowers the barriers to entry,
reduces costs by converting cap-ex to op-ex, and allows flexibility for
scale and deployment,” he said.

The impact of cloud computing is potentially huge. The Centre for Economics
and Business Research states in a recent study that it will create 2.3
million new jobs across Europe’s top five economies between 2010-2015. The
World Economic Forum (WEF) says in its 2011 report that many believe the
impact to become equal to or exceed that of mobile technologies.

The Asia Cloud working group that developed the Cloud Readiness Index
believes it could well incubate innovation right across the region’s
economy, especially in Asia’s massive SME sector.

“Cloud Computing offers significant opportunities for local industries. It
attracts investments and overseas businesses and provides a significant
boost to e-government initiatives. Countries with the most insightful,
transparent and fair regulatory environments will be the most successful in
capitalising on this new opportunity,” said John Galligan, Vice Chairman of
the working group and Regional Director, Internet Policy at Microsoft.

“The indications for Asia are good but there is still room for action with
a recent research report revealing that Asia is lagging behind the US and
Europe in cloud adoption. Moreover, while larger Asian businesses are
embracing cloud services, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are slow to
embrace the cloud. There is a huge opportunity to help narrow this gap and
Asia Cloud hopes that the new Cloud Readiness Index will help governments
and businesses – large and small – to continue to capitalise on the
opportunities that cloud computing offers,” he said.

About the Asia Cloud Computing Association
The Asia Cloud Computing Association fosters collaboration and innovation
in Asia to drive adoption of cloud computing regionally. Asia Cloud’s
outreach efforts extend to policy and regulation, security, best practices,
and market education. Members include Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, CITIC Telecom
CPC, Cisco Systems, Cloud Garage, EMC Corporation, Genetic Finance, Huawei,
Microsoft, NetApp, Nokia Siemens Networks, PLDT/Smart, Rackspace, Telstra
International, Telenor Group, and Verizon. For more information, visit
www.asiacloud.org. For membership please contact member@asiacloud.org
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