Since the dawn of the IT channel, technology certifications have made the world go round. But when it comes to cloud computing applications, channel partners are working with scores of different tools and service providers. That means some "stuff" doesn't work with "other stuff." That's where Cloud Foundry Foundation enters the picture.
The platform as a service provider has launched the Cloud Foundry PaaS Certification program. According to the organization, the certification ensures that cloud applications are portable and enjoy longevity across the multi-vendor cloud ecosystem. Key backers include CenturyLink, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Huawei, IBM, Pivotal, SAP and Swisscom.
Cloud Foundry PaaS Certification: Partner Benefits?
But how exactly can the PaaS Certification potentially help channel partners that build or manage cloud applications? In theory, the certification is an open standard that guarantees portability and speed to market for cloud applications. It's sort of the latest spin on Sun Microsystems old "Write Once, Run Everywhere" vision for Java -- back when that programming language was just emerging in the 1990s.
Still, the Cloud Foundry PaaS Certification sounds a lot like it's striving to address challenges that Docker and OpenStack are already taking on. For instance:
Docker is a container-based technology that allows DevOps and service providers to more effectively build, deploy and manage applications across public, hybrid and private clouds. Somewhat similarly, OpenStack is a cloud deployment platform that, at least initially, attempted to create an open standard for moving applications from one cloud to another -- regardless of whether the cloud was public or private.
Cloud Foundry PaaS Certification: Big Backers
Despite that potential market overlap, the Cloud Foundry PaaS Certification has some true believers. Indeed, Cloud Foundry is collectively developed by 55 member companies from such verticals as banking (JPMC, BNY Mellon, Citi, Bloomberg, RBC), telecommunications (Verizon, Swisscom, Telstra, CenturyLink, NTT, Huawei, Ericsson), heavy industry (GE), management consulting (Accenture, Atos, Capgemini, Fujitsu, Toshiba), and large-scale computing (Pivotal, IBM, SAP, HPE, Intel, EMC, VMware, Cisco). It's a safe bet most -- perhaps all -- of those backers will embrace the certification.
Instead of trying to compete head-on against public clouds, Cloud Foundry is portable across Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, OpenStack and more.
