Grid standards groups merge

The Open Grid Forum, bringing together the EGA and GGF bodies, may encourage faster growth of grid systems

Peace has broken out in grid computing with two leading standards groups combining to form one new entity.

The Enterprise Grid Alliance (EGA) and the Global Grid Forum (GGF) have completed their merger to form the Open Grid Forum (OGF).

The OGF said the harmonisation – which brings together GGF supporters such as IBM with EGA backers including Oracle and Sun - would accelerate adoption of grid technology.

Mark Linesch, who will lead the group, said the OGF would “open new doors to scientific discovery, business value and commercial adoption worldwide”.

Experts welcomed the end of the groups’ prolonged sparring over definitions and semantics. “OGF isn't a magic elixir [but] it is a very sound and pragmatic step forward,” said Jonathan Eunice of analyst firm Illuminata. “It gives [grid supporters] the opportunity to stop focusing on the few differences and start focusing on the many similarities.”

William Fellows of analyst firm The 451 Group said that the success of the OGF would partly depend on the organisation’s membership, which is still to be announced. “We’ll see who ponies up the cash but [the OGF has] a pretty good shot,” he added. “It brings together an EGA group supporting grids behind the firewall and the GGF, which saw more global grids, solving scientific problems. This brings to an end the very boring dispute about terminology. Grid is going to get absorbed into the fabric of computing in much the same way multi-core and soon virtualisation will be.”