Three new projects out of Intel (NASDAQ: INTC)--the Cloud 2015 vision, the Open Data Center Alliance and Intel Cloud Builders--aim to make cloud computing more interoperable, but the rather conspicuous absence of big-name cloud players is fueling skepticism. 

The Open Data Center Alliance boasts some big names in business, including BMW, Deutsche Bank, Lockheed Martin, Shell and Terremark, suggesting that large enterprises are indeed getting serious about cloud computing and are seeking the open standards that will benefit them from a cost and flexibility perspective. The group's goal is to define data center and cloud computing requirements and then come up with solutions based on an open, industry-standard-driven process.

The only major IT vendor participating in the alliance, however, is Intel. The absence of cloud services vendors, such as VMware, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), is a glaring omission, writes The Register's Cade Metz, who covered Intel's "Cloud Independence Day" hoopla in San Francisco.

Many of the alliance partners appear to be more focused on private cloud systems than the services offered by Google, Amazon and the like. Still, it would be forgivable to ask to what degree the alliance's work will be genuinely about openness, given that Intel is the only major IT vendor involved at present and will play an advisory role.

"You could argue that the existing alliance could eventually pressure the big cloud names into joining this effort," Metz writes. "The members account for $50 billion in IT spending, and the likes of Amazon and Rackspace wouldn't object if at least some of those dollars were spent on their services. But at the moment, as Intel said, this is just one of many efforts to provide a set of cloud standards, and as far as avoiding the dreaded vendor lock-in goes, it's much further from solving the problem than most."

In Metz' view, companies like Amazon and Vmware will play a much larger role in cloud interoperability than enterprises like BMW, Marriott or even Intel: "Somehow, the world forgot that [Intel] is a hardware marker leading a charge for open cloud standards, which have very little to do with hardware. A cloud is designed to make hardware invisible. Like so many other outfits that have long made a living in the private data center, Intel wants desperately to remain relevant in a world threatening to move somewhere else."

Derrick Harris at GigaOm offers at least two more reasons to take Intel's cloud vision with a grain of salt. First, the interoperability aimed for appears to focus on IT components "above the processor."   

"It seems very possible that ideal cloud architectures would include a mix of AMD,ARM, Nvidia and Intel processors," Harris writes. "If Intel is serious about interoperability, why not try to pull its competitors into the fold, as well?"

The second reason to curb enthusiasm, according to Harris, is that this is just the latest among a confusing jumble of cloud alliances to be formed, and the track record of these groups is not stellar. 

"Throwing the ODCA and Cloud Builders into a mix that already includes the Cloud Security Alliance, CloudAudit, DMTF, NIST, the TM Forum, The Open Group and plenty others could further complicate things," he writes. "With so many standards, reference architectures and best practices floating around, where are non-ODCA members supposed to turn for guidance?"

The creation of the alliance reveals a vision on the part of enterprise users somewhat at odds with the strategy many large vendors have taken so far. As InfoWorld's Ted Samson notes, major cloud vendors would much prefer to lock customers in than give them the flexibility and competitive pricing that tend to accompany interoperability.

For more:
- see Cade Metz' post at The Register
- see Derrick Harris' post at GigaOm
- see Ted Samson's article at InfoWorld

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