PHOENIX — Confused about “Cloud Computing” and whether or not it’s right for your organization? Help could be on the way (emphasis on “could”.)

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA)  announced the formation of the Cloud Storage Initiative (CSI), a new program it hopes will foster the development and adoption of the Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) standard.

And everyone here at the Storage and Networking World annual conference seems to agree on one thing: Without some standards, the whole “cloud” thing is pretty much a mystery.

The CSI will work with the SNIA Cloud Storage Technical Working Group (TWG), formed last spring and made up of about 140 members. The CSI will team with the TWG to bring specs and technical developments to international standards bodies.

The big worry among IT folks at a session yesterday on Cloud security was that many of the folks with Cloud offerings are developing their own, proprietary interfaces without standards for any of the activities they want to promote.

The lack of standards is causing many in the industry to steer clear of the Cloud, in hopes that standards will soon emerge and there will be some consistency to the offerings available.

As one storage expert grumbled: “This is always the way it happens. The cart comes before the horse. And then the horse has to race to catch up.”

To find out more about the initiative, visit SNIA’s Web site here.

Tags: CDMI, cloud computing, Cloud Storage Initiative, CSI, Dloud Data Management Interface standard, SNIA, Storage Networking Industry Association