Peace declared between warring cloud bodies

Cloud Industry Forum welcomes UK Cloud Alliance founder into its fold

The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has called time on its war of words with the newly-launched UK Cloud Alliance by inviting the group's founding company to join its ranks.

Relations between the two cloud bodies had been strained since the launch of the UK Cloud Alliance earlier this month.

The group, led by hosting provider Star, was set up to offer SMBs and mid-market firms access to a sourcing pool of cloud-focused channel players.

During an introductory briefing with ChannelWeb at the time of the UK Cloud Alliance's launch, Grant Tanner, business development director at Star, praised the work of CIF-like cloud bodies, but likened them to "talking shops".

This comment prompted CIF chairman Andy Burton to call into question the transparency and independence of the UK Cloud Alliance. He then went on to dismiss its activities as little more than "a collaborative commercial working agreement between a private group of companies".

Martino Corbelli, marketing director at Star, said it had moved quickly to smooth relations with Burton, and has now become the latest channel firm to join CIF's ranks.

"We had been planning to join the Cloud Industry Forum for a while, but had simply not got round to it," Corbelli told ChannelWeb. "The [Burton] announcement speeded things up by providing our chief executive [Ricky Hudson] with a chance to sit down with CIF and establish that there is a lot of common ground between us."

To this end, Star and CIF have pinpointed several cloud issues they want to address together. These include the importance of having single contracts and SLAs for customers buying a cloud solution involving multiple suppliers, and the need to assure end users about where their data is being stored.

In a statement, Burton said the UK Cloud Alliance and CIF now have a "healthy respect for each other".

"Both CIF and the UK Cloud Alliance have a very different perspective and intention which is complementary," Burton said. "CIF members are passionate about the principles of transparency to help customers make informed decisions and we look to Star to instill this philosophy into the UK Cloud Alliance and its members."