Non-profit bodies representing the cloud and data centre industries have partnered in order to hold cloud computing companies to account.
The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) and Data Centre Alliance (DCA) said they hope the move will help create common standards of transparency, trust and security across cloud and data centre providers.
The bodies are formed of industry experts, and another goal of the partnership will be to educate end users of cloud and data centre services on the issues they need to be aware of.
The DCA’s executive director, Simon Campbell-Whyte, said: "The widespread adoption of cloud computing has highlighted the need for a common standard that ensures transparency, capability and accountability amongst both cloud service providers and data centres.
"We believe that our collaboration with CIF and its code of practice will really bring these into play and will contribute heavily to the development of a credible and thriving IT industry."
CIF’s code of practice calls for visibility into cloud providers’ operations to give users enough information to assess a service for themselves.
The organisation’s CEO, Alex Hilton, said the agreement with DCA should create more awareness of the code.
The co-operative approach is also aimed at encouraging mutual membership of the groups, collaborative lobbying and sharing research.
