Rakesh Bachoe, Head of Design & Development at AMS-IX, about ECOFED: “The networking world is ahead of telecoms when it comes to collaboration”

Anyone looking to create the conditions for a federated cloud will need solid networking expertise. That’s why AMS-IX is one of the partners in the ECOFED consortium.

Within ECOFED, four organisations are working together alongside TNO (responsible for the overall project leadership) to develop an open and federated cloud. Three of these focus on cloud technology, BIT, Info Support and i3D.net. AMS-IX brings the networking expertise. Rakesh Bachoe, Head of Design & Development at the internet exchange, explains: “The networking and telecoms sectors are already more advanced than the cloud world when it comes to protocols that allow services from different providers to work seamlessly together. Think of roaming, or keeping your number when switching mobile providers. The cloud industry is still some way off that level, and that’s exactly what ECOFED aims to change.”

Enabling Participation for All

As Head of Design & Development, Bachoe oversees architecture and development at AMS-IX. He is used to working not just with current technologies, but also participating in those that are still emerging, or even don’t exist yet. “As an internet exchange, we always have to be future-ready and continuously adapt to new developments. That closely mirrors what we’re doing in ECOFED: developing a protocol and a semantic layer that allow different cloud technologies and services to interoperate, even technologies that aren’t used yet.”

AMS-IX understands the value of open participation on equal terms. “We were founded in the 1990s as a neutral party to help the internet function more efficiently. We enable transparent collaboration between all members and customers, regardless of their size. ECOFED is built on the same principle, but applied to cloud services.”

A Knowledge Partner

Most of the development and testing within ECOFED is carried out by the other consortium partners, not least because much of the networking groundwork already exists and can be reused. AMS-IX therefore primarily contributes as a knowledge partner, says Bachoe. “There are many ways to organise connectivity. We know the pros and cons of different networking technologies and can advise on when to use what. We also take part in brainstorming sessions around the challenges that arise in the project. We ask different kinds of questions, which can prompt new ways of thinking among the other partners.”

Balancing Choice with Convenience

One of the key challenges, assuming the technology proves successful, is how to convince a broad range of organisations to seriously consider risk diversification in their architecture. When companies already do this, standardised collaboration makes it easier to switch providers and avoids vendor lock-in.

At its core, Bachoe argues, it’s about preserving freedom of choice. “In other words: select the right provider for each specific use case.” ECOFED supports this by making it easy to both switch between providers and to combine services from multiple vendors. “Our goal is to offer an alternative where organisations have real choice, without sacrificing flexibility or ease of switching.”

In practice, however, many organisations opt for a one-stop shop because it’s convenient, accepting the trade-offs that come with it. “That’s why it would be a major achievement if we can offer the same level of convenience as a one-stop shop, while in reality using technologies from multiple providers behind the scenes.”

Driving Innovation Through Federation

Bachoe believes a federated model would also strengthen innovation. “You don’t need to be a large organisation to make a significant impact. In fact, many of the most groundbreaking innovations come from start-ups that scale rapidly on the back of a new technology, think of Spotify or OpenAI. Innovation is certainly not the exclusive domain of big players.”

He concludes by emphasising the importance of a more diverse digital ecosystem. “If we can raise awareness of why it matters to diversify risk and build a more diverse landscape, that in itself is a strong starting point.”