Grid/Cloud Computing Interoperability, Standardization and the Next Generation Network

For telecom operators, the future lies in converging fixed, mobile and data services onto the Next Generation Network (NGN). This paper discusses the relationship between grid and cloud computing, identifies gaps and overlaps in existing standards and identifies how grid and cloud technology could be exploited to improve the efficiency of NGN resources and to offer new “data” services to consumers. This will enable telecom operators to manage their resources in a dynamic and optimal way by a single platform. This paper describes the approach taken by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Technical Committee for grid computing (TC GRID) to identify gaps and overlaps in grid/cloud computing standards and to support the integration of grid/cloud computing with the NGN architecture.