The Security Glue for the Cloud

If you look across the agenda of Gluecon, you'll actually begin to notice several horizontal themes that include (but aren't limited to): APIs, NoSQL data models, connective protocols, frameworks/providers, and identity. The themes share a common thing: they (wait for it...) "glue" the cloud together (at various points in the stack).Being an old identity guy (from way back when, you know, like 2000), I've always believed that identity is the driving factor for any real "security." And so it was with great pleasure that I read this piece over on ReadWriteCloud, wherein they refer to Matthew Gardiner's presentation, "Identity as Security Glue for the Cloud." Now, Matthew's an old identity guy too, and CA's pushing big into the Cloud space, but it's his choice of that one little word that intrigues me.You see, "Glue" might sound like some cutesy little marketing name for a conference, but in reality it's not. Glue is a descriptor of what the things we talk about at Gluecon *do*. Whether it's APIs, new data models, activity streams, OAuth, force.com, web oriented architecture, OpenID, Facebook Connect or SAML (that's the "Security Assertion Markup Language" for all of you non-identity folks out there), they all perform an essential function -- they GLUE things together (people, identities, data, apps, etc). So, it's no coincidence that folks like Ping Identity are participating in the Glue agenda.And I hope that it's no coincidence that Matthew chose that one little word for the title of his presentation. (CA, are you listening?) ;-)Coming at the cloud through the prism of "Glue" provides a unique perspective on the problems, hurdles, challenges and benefits of the "post-cloud" world.As always, I hope you'll choose to join us.