New Zealand's export-quality cloud code

Despite what some overseas sites report, New Zealand is ahead of Australia when it comes to developing a cloud code.

Indeed, the code developed by New Zealand’s Institute of IT Professionals (IITP) could end up as the template for Australian and many other countries. That’s because the IITP has re-worked the code in ways that make it easier for others to adopt or adapt. It could even form the basis of a globally accepted cloud code.

Cloud code defines technology

One of the key points in the code is a formal description of cloud computing:

On-demand scalable resources such as networks, servers and applications which are provided as a service, are accessible by the end user and can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal effort or service provider interaction.

Not much ambiguity there.

New Zealand punches above its weight when it comes to cloud computing. The size and shape of our technology market makes everything-as-a-service and sensible option. Business and government here are far more taken with the idea than, say, their Australian counterparts.

We have a few issues, a single pipe to the rest of the world, but overall we’re ahead of this curve. Exporting our cloud code won’t earn much money, at least not directly, but it will raise our profile as an inventive, pioneering nation. And the more of that, the better.

More on the rise of cloud and SaaS in New Zealand

• Speed and cost: Behind Xero’s move to AWS – 2015 heritage on a pivotal moment for New Zealand's biggest tech success story.
• Cloud performance: What the providers don't tell you – 2014 context on the early technical challenges of cloud adoption.
• Can cloud computing revive the 'IT dinosaurs'? – A 2014 archival piece on how legacy businesses struggled to adapt to the cloud model.