Most savvy information technology executives would claim a solid understanding of "the cloud." But since cloud computing looks like so many other things that CIOs have been seeing for years, confusion is rampant, government IT executives said during a panel session at INPUT's MarketView 2010 Conference on April 8.

"We're marching out yesterday's services as cloud services...it ends up blurring the lines and making adoption very difficult," said Hamid Ouyachi, Labor Department chief technology officer.

"The cloud really is the convergence of many different technological developments that had been developing independently," said Peter Mell, senior computer scientist of the computer security division of NIST and chairman of the Interagency Cloud Computing Security Working Group. "I believe all these different technologies have matured to a point where they can converge...that's why we're seeing this trend rise to the importance that we've given it a label."

In government procurement, definitions are critical. If a federal chief information officer cannot define what a contractor brings to the table and specify how that technology will enhance the agency's IT portfolio, the service cannot be used. While there is no mandate for agencies to adopt cloud computing, OMB may soon use its budget powers to push agencies in that direction, predicted Ouyachi. As a result, now is the time for IT executives to set cloud definitions and pinpoint how cloud computing could help agencies achieve their goals, he added.

For the Energy Department's Peter Tseronis, chairman of the Federal Cloud Computing Council, the cloud is all about collaboration. "If cloud computing is the way to get people to start talking about sharing data, than great," he said. "While everybody's different, there's a horizontal thread that we all depend on, and that's IT."

Ouyachi criticized the proliferation of "private clouds," saying they missed the greatest opportunity the cloud provides: The ability to share across agencies.

"With the cloud you're getting [the technology] you have and then some. And maybe that ‘and then some' is innovation--the opportunity for innovation," said Tseronis.

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