Study: Cloud Needs Universal, Open Networks - Page 2

For some companies, this model emerged almost by accident, the researchers said.

"One reason the cloud grew is that Google and Amazon and other companies had excess capacity after building these datacenters for their own core businesses -- Google for search Amazon for e-commerce -- and they had these server networks that could then be used for other purposes," Heyward said.

From a policy perspective, beyond promoting ubiquitous and open networks, government can take a firm stance in adopting a cloud-based model in its own IT systems, the researchers said. However, Rayport and Heyward admitted that many in the government will be resistant to the remote hosting and shared access of the cloud.

Nevertheless, they look to Vivek Kundra, who was recently named the country's first federal CIO, to push the adoption of cloud-based services across the federal IT landscape, just as he did while most recently serving as the CTO of Washington, D.C.

Their research identifies several other conditions that will enable the cloud model to flourish, such as privacy, reliability and data security.

In the area of digital privacy, which is poised to resurface on the congressional radar, Heyward admitted that "the laws have not kept up with the cloud," though he said he generally favors a market-driven approach.

Some of Facebook's well-publicized struggles with user privacy, such as the Beacon ad platform and the recent skirmish over its terms of service, demonstrate to him that if a Web company tramples on its users' privacy, they will revolt and effect a change in the policy.

The issue of who owns data is complicated by the inherently distributed model of the cloud's architecture. The phenomenon of virtualization has enabled a company's far-flung datacenters to work together to execute tasks. The idea of data passing through server farms spread across multiple countries makes it all-but-impossible to implement a unified legal framework to address information on the cloud.

"What's the law in Indonesia regarding my e-mail?" Heyward said.

Those ambiguities aside, the researchers counseled a largely hands-off role for the government at this early stage in the development of the cloud.

"This is not a time for rapid-fire or trigger-happy government intervention," Rayport said. "The best role for government or policy makers to play at this point is as we put it to clear the road, to clear the obstacles, to ensure universal access to connectivity."