To drive the wider uptake of cloud computing, Europe needs to pursue a continued dialogue between all stakeholders (business users, governments, researchers, providers and consumer associations) evaluating ways to increase commitment to transparency, openness and compliance. CloudWatch disseminates best practices on interoperable clouds contributing to an internal market of services to boost opportunities for businesses and citizens.

The goals of CloudWatch:

• Accelerate the adoption of cloud computing across European private and public organisations.
• Offer independent, practical tips on why, when and how to move to the cloud, showcasing success stories that demonstrate real world benefits of cloud computing.
• Foster interoperable services and solutions to broaden choice for consumers.
• Provide tips on legal and contractual issues.
• Feature insights on real issues like security, trust and data protection.
• Promote common standards profiles with practical guidance on relevant standards and Certification Schemes for cloud services.

CloudWatch offers sound recommendations based on real-life cases. It focuses on providing a portfolio of European and international use cases leading to the development of common standards profiles and testing around the federation of cloud services. CloudWatch also supports efforts around certification and compliance testing.