It is encouraging that some cloud computing providers are
working together toward interoperability. I spent most of my day in the Upper
east Side of Manhattan at Saleforce.com's Dreamforce event. It announced a
partnership with Google and a Python library that integrates its API with Google
App Engine.
Last month Saleforce announced a similar deal with Amazon for
interoperability with EC2 and S3. While each company is doing something that is
somewhat different and not directly competitive, they could easily have
sequestered themselves into silos.
Microsoft could also partner with
Salesforce, but it probably won't. Its CRM offerings are top candidates to be
ported to Windows Azure, and they also compete directly with
Salesforce.
While developers could technically make the services
interoperable by using REST techniques, SOA and RSS, having providers developing
hybrid solutions and guidance removes a significant barrier to the adoption of
cloud computing. It is good to see companies working together on hybrid
solutions that gives developers greater choice.