<p>Emerging specs for hybrid clouds and converged datacenters promise to break vendors' proprietary hold.</p><p>The word "standards" evokes images of combative committees taking six months to decide where to hold a meeting and then letting dominant industry players hold down superior technology.</p><p>Vendors blamed delays with the 802.11n spec for their going rogue with proprietary implementations that often didn't work together; eventually the Wi-Fi Alliance had to expend money and effort on a certification program. And while the Open Networking Foundation begs to differ, Cisco CEO John Chambers recently asserted that advanced networking "can't be done in software." His unstated pitch: "Why wait for messy SDN standards to gel? Just cut a check for Cisco ONE."</p><p>Going with proprietary technology is tempting. But standards remain important, especially in the era of convergence and cloud, with its "just make it work" culture. In particular, standards are critical for shuttling workloads between on-premises and multitenant systems. A well-considered design that uses stock components, protocols, and interfaces wherever possible will improve efficiency, lower costs, and maximize flexibility and scalability.</p><p><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/infrastructure/cloud-infrastructure/to-crack-the-cloud-lock-in-problem-think-standards-/d/d-id/1112915">Keep reading...</a></p>