The newly formed Open Data Center Alliance is using an array of usage models to weld cloud-using customers into a force that prevents vendor lock. At the same time, the group is promoting secure movement of virtual workloads from one provider to another. The organization is made up of more than 200 members including JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin and
Marriott.

Few security practices are as problematic as that nasty old string of
bits known as a password. Experts tell us to make them as long and
complex as possible, never reuse them even as our online accounts
multiply, and store them only in our grey matter. That advice can be
summarized, as security researcher Mikko Hypponen recently
twittered: ”Pick something you can’t remember, then don’t write it
down.”

Tasked with adopting cloud computing as a first option in all IT
projects, federal agencies are now grappling with the hard realities of making the policy work.

Solution providers gathered for Everything Channel's XChange Public Sector conference this week said they were disappointed that the Federal CIO who was driving a cloud computing revolution is apparently throwing in the towel after only two and half years on the job.