This week, the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) hosted its first Solutions Provider Summit to help foster proof of concept testing of ODCA usage models. Several member organizations were on hand to meet with solutions providers during a series of matchmaking sessions, public presentations on Alliance progress, and a networking reception.

ODCA Chairman and VP of IT Infrastructure for BMW Mario Müller, presented the recently completed second annual ODCA Member Survey results. The survey shows member adoption of the cloud exceeding prior forecasts by 15 percent. Two-thirds of ODCA members are planning to integrate Alliance requirements into their purchasing decisions over the next 24 months. This is an exciting validation of the impact that the ODCA's collaborative efforts is having on the industry.

Also speaking during the event was UBS Client Experience CTO Chris Swan who outlined the enterprise perspective on cloud innovation. This technical session provided insight into UBS' go-to-cloud strategy and illustrated the ways that UBS' vision aligns with the ODCA. Chris also spoke passionately about the need for data center standardization and noted that the "ODCA allows us to get our needs understood by solutions providers and community at large."

Terremark Chief Cloud Strategist Jeff Deacon described the security concerns that might prevent some companies from fully adopting cloud computing and how the Alliance's usage models could help organizations address those issues. He went on to illustrate how the proof of concept process provides a clear path to real world solutions built on industry driven guidelines; from matchmaking to planning to execution.

I was excited to see so much collaboration taking place. There were discussions all afternoon about the future of cloud computing among some significant industry players. Only time will tell which real word cloud computing challenges will be conquered. But based on what I saw, I know that we're experiencing some significant progress.

Raejeanne Skillern is Director of Marketing for Cloud Computing, with Intel's Data Center and Connected Systems Group. Her role includes working with leading Internet datacenters and cloud ecosystem providers to deliver optimized technology for private and public cloud use. Raejeanne holds her Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance.

The above insights were provided to InformationWeek by Intel Corporation as part of a sponsored content program. The information and opinions expressed in this content are those of Intel Corporation and its partners and not InformationWeek or its parent, UBM TechWeb.