I returned a few days ago from Russia. On the second day of the conference I conducted a press conference with a group of around 15 tech journalists. Many astute questions on the potential for cloud computing in Russia, with some particular emphasis on the driving economic forces that will motivate companies to embrace cloud computing.

Later this month I'll be in the UK, speaking at the Cloud Computing World Forum, speaking on a panel about "Utility Computing -- Switching Supplier." I'll take a contrary position, because I feel all the hoo-rah about avoiding lock-in, having easily migratable applications, etc., it totally misplaced at this stage of the game. What companies should be focusing on at this time is getting good at cloud computing, not on avoiding some putative danger of lock-in

If you saw my (mild) rant on CIO.com about "Cloud Computing: The Dangers of Irrational Economics," you know that I discussed how IT organizations are raising issues out of a desire to avoiding moving forward with cloud computing; in other words, "if I just raise a bunch of concerns about the dangers of cloud computing, I can avoid having to do anything."

In my mind, this is where the issue of being able to switch suppliers lies. Again, instead of reaching for perfection in cloud computing, one would be far better served by putting applications into a cloud environment and gaining actual experience.

I'm looking forward to the panel, as, despite my contrary position, I will attempt to keep an open enough mind that I can absorb specific use cases or techniques that can aid application portability. We'll see.

I am also looking forward to the conference itself, as it will offer a peek into the progress of cloud computing in Europe. It will be interesting to see if there are differences -- or similarities -- to the progress here in the States.

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