Opportunity Knocks Once…

In 1983, I was a young electrical engineering student, when I took a job working for a small long distance company in Phoenix Arizona. For me, Opportunity had Knocked and I had just opened the door on an amazing future. In the world of communications, things were already changing and were about to begin changing in even more dramatic ways. 1984, the Divestiture of AT&T would reshape the way the world communicates. The personal PC was appearing. In the 1980’s fiber optic cables and transoceanic fiber optic cables began to crisscross the world. As of 2010, the only continent that was not connected with fiber optic cables was Antarctica. Fiber optics enabled huge amounts of data to be transported anywhere in the world. On the heels of this data explosion came the World Wide Web, the Internet began to be something more than a tool for universities and the Defense Department. Multiple processor and multi-core processor computing systems became the norm, putting tremendous amounts of processing power in the hands of the masses. In recent years, virtualization has made its debut and helped to launch the cloud revolution. Truly, I have had a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in the right place at the right time.

When I had the opportunity to get involved with the Cloud Security Alliance and become a part of the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Group, I realized that Opportunity was Knocking once again. Just as all of these advancements have paved the way, making cloud services possible, I believe that the Cloud Security Alliance will serve a critical role and establish the patterns that will determine what Cloud Services will look like in the future and the SME Group will have an important part in that future.

When the CSA was formed, it recognized the importance of involving and engaging the companies and people that were working with and making the technologies of tomorrow. The SME Group was formed to involve and engage those companies, making available a forum where those companies that are using and creating the cloud can have a voice. I learned long ago, that I don’t know everything and that there is great power and opportunity in association. The SME Group is such an association. As a member of the SME Group, you will have the opportunity to meet and work with people from all over the world, working in all kinds of industries and technology with vast amounts of knowledge and experience. Members of the SME Group not only have a front row seat to where the Cloud is going, but can also provide input and direction, allowing the entire cloud community to benefit from their knowledge and experience.

If you are a member of the SME Group, I want to thank you for your participation. If you are a corporate sponsor of the CSA, but not currently a member of or involved in the SME Group, I want to invite you to get involved, and if you are a company interested in, involved in or considering incorporating cloud services in your business, I want to invite you to become a corporate sponsor of the Cloud Security Alliance. It will be an investment that is well worth it.

Opportunity is Knocking, all you need to do is open the door.

Henry St. Andre

Co-Chair SME Group