ITU Approves Standard on Desktop-as-a-Service Cloud Computing

ITU members have achieved first-stage approval (‘consent’) of a new standard on Desktop as a Service (DaaS) solutions, the latest addition to ITU-T’s growing series of cloud computing standards.

The new standard is the product of ITU-T Study Group 13 (Future networks including cloud computing, mobile and NGN).

Recommendation ITU-T Y.3503 “Requirements for Desktop as a Service” details the conceptual underpinnings of DaaS, specifies its general and functional requirements and capabilities, and also provides illustrations of these requirements and capabilities with relevant use cases. DaaS, recognized as one of cloud computing’s core service categories, refers to services in which cloud service customers are provided with desktop functions remotely delivered by cloud service providers.

Enhanced security may be one of the most beneficial advantages of the capability to build, configure, manage, store, execute and deliver a user’s desktop functions remotely from the cloud.

Responsibility for the security of desktop applications run on a server in a DaaS environment lies with the cloud service provider, ensuring better maintenance of these applications’ security than would be possible were they installed on each user’s PC.

 In addition, ITU members reached first-stage approval a revision to Recommendation ITU-T Y.1271 “Framework(s) on network requirements and capabilities to support emergency telecommunications over evolving circuit-switched and packet-switched networks”, updating it to reflect new capabilities in leveraging cloud computing infrastructure to support emergency telecommunications services.

Members also determined Recommendation ITU-T Y.2771  “Framework for Deep Packet Inspection”, the second ITU-T standard on deep packet inspection (DPI), following the November 2012 approval of Recommendation ITU-T Y.2770 “Requirements for Deep Packet Inspection in Next Generation Networks”. DPI is of great value in optimal traffic shaping, widely acknowledged by industry players as an effective means to increase network capacity and tipped to become part of the fundamental technology composition of future networks.