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SNIA's Cloud Interoperability Conformance Test Program Now Available for Cloud Solution Vendors
[April 22, 2014]

SNIA's Cloud Interoperability Conformance Test Program Now Available for Cloud Solution Vendors


(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/22/14 -- DSI - The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), today announced the launch of a Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) Conformance Test Program (CTP) that validates cloud products' conformance to the ISO/IEC CDMI standard for cloud data interoperability (ISO catalog number ISO/IEC 17826:2012). Cloud solutions that pass the CDMI CTP offer cloud consumers assurance that the CDMI standard has been properly implemented and that data stored in any conformant implementation will be transportable to any other conformant implementation.



CDMI Adoption Growing RapidlyThe CDMI standard is applicable to all types of clouds -- private, public and hybrid -- allowing IT departments and end users the freedom to operate between multiple clouds with an ISO/IEC approved standard for data storage, migration and security. Adoption of this ISO/IEC interoperability standard is growing rapidly with more than 20 implementations currently embracing CDMI.

As enterprises increasingly deploy cloud-based solutions, cloud interoperability has become a critical business issue. IT departments understand the value of being able to utilize metadata in the cloud to ensure data protection and data portability -- providing end users with a guaranteed "exit strategy" for their data in the cloud. This is especially valuable if organizations want to change cloud service providers or if a cloud service provider goes out of business. As a result, IT departments are expecting suppliers to comply with standards for cloud data interoperability.


Growing Mandate for Cloud InteroperabilityThe CDMI CTP tests for conformance against the CDMI specification and reassures cloud consumers that CDMI has been consistently implemented for multi-solution interoperably. IT departments with solutions that are CTP certified have the assurance of data storage interoperability across a wide range of cloud storage solutions. The CTP ensures compliance with the ISO/IEC version (1.0.2) of the SNIA CDMI standard, an increasing regulatory compliance requirement for vendors selling solutions to government bodies. The CDMI CTP also offers CIOs return on their technology investments as it helps them avoid issues like cloud vendor lock-in and reduces costs to exit contracts with cloud providers.

"SNIA continues to develop and promote industry standards to help interoperable use of storage technologies," said David Dale, SNIA's Chairman of the Board. "When it comes to cloud storage, we are seeing vendors increasingly adopt the SNIA CDMI standard because end users want to control the destiny of their data and ensure hassle-free data access, data protection and data migration from one cloud service to another." "Today, the cloud market is crowded with a slew of vendors offering different solutions for migration, data management and security, often leaving IT customers confused about the right solution for their requirements," said Greg Schulz, founder of StorageIO, a storage technology advisory and consulting firm. "SNIA's CDMI Conformance Test Program is a great step forward helping IT customers, VARs or others in the industry navigate their way through the fog of cloud interoperability requirements in a streamlined fashion, not to mention laying standard routes vendors will want to adopt going forward." Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, will oversee execution of the CTP program. TCS offers as automated testing suite compliant with the SNIA CDMI Conformance Test Program and TCS' mature test framework.

"TCS, through its strong customer focus and innovative solutions, is a leader in storage services and is committed to storage standards that benefit the end user," said Reena Dayal Yadav, Global Head Technology, Domain and Innovation for Hitech, Tata Consultancy Services. "The SNIA CDMI CTP that TCS administers is supported by the TCS' CDMI Conformance Assurance Solution (CAS). The CAS solution offers complete testing support for cloud storage products' conformance for the CDMI specification, reducing test cycle time and helping organizations fix defects early on to achieve improved product quality and faster time to market." Webcast Explains How Vendors Can Get StartedThe CDMI CTP is available to SNIA and non-SNIA vendors. Vendors can learn how to begin the CTP process during SNIA's live Webcast on May 8, 10:00 a.m. PT/1:00 p.m. ET at https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/663/109969.

SNIA Conformance Test Programs SNIA has a proven track record of ensuring industry standard verification by offering Conformance Test Programs for storage management through the Storage Management Initiative - Specification SMI-S and for storage security through the Storage Security Industry Forum (SSIF) with its Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP). The KMIP Conformance Test Program addresses standardizing communication between encryption systems that need to consume keys and the key management systems that create and manage those keys. SMI-S is an international standard that standardizes and streamlines storage management functions into a common set of tools. SMI-S has been implemented in over 500 products.

About the SNIAThe Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit global organization, made up of member companies spanning the global storage market. SNIA's mission is to lead the storage industry worldwide in developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education, and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For more information, visit www.snia.org.

Follow SNIA at: LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/snia Facebook: www.facebook.com/SNIA.ORG Web: www.snia.org Twitter: @SNIAcloud Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine Contact: Dan La Russo Ogilvy Public Relations for the SNIA Mobile: 720-840-8254 Email: [email protected] Source: Storage Networking Industry Association

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