Speaker
Describe the scientific/technical community and the scientific/technical activity using (planning to use) the EGEE infrastructure. A high-level description is needed (neither a detailed specialist report nor a list of references).
Business and industry can use vast resources (machines, CPUs, storage, applications)
linked by the EGEE Grid in the on-demand / ASP model. Apart from solving peek compute capacity issues,
businesses can be granted access to unique, specialized software and architectures normally not available in-
house. The solution from GridwiseTech includes the portal, the security framework, application-specific
user interface framework, and programmer API’s integrated directly with LCG and gLite framework
Report on the experience (or the proposed activity). It would be very important to mention key services which are essential for the success of your activity on the EGEE infrastructure.
We are in contact with Erwin Laure through the EGEE business associates programme. He is helpful in resolving
issues like that; we will route any new issues through him.
With a forward look to future evolution, discuss the issues you have encountered (or that you expect) in using the EGEE infrastructure. Wherever possible, point out the experience limitations (both in terms of existing services or missing functionality)
Possibly, the main challenge is the business-unfriendly structure of some EGEE procedures and policies, which may
disappoint potential customers/users. As mentioned above, we are in ongoing discussion with Erwin on those issues.
Describe the added value of the Grid for the scientific/technical activity you (plan to) do on the Grid. This should include the scale of the activity and of the potential user community and the relevance for other scientific or business applications
EGEE presents potential to the business and industry through its infrastructure,resources and applications. Allowing
commercial entities use those resources is only the first step in the long and fascinating journey. Eventually, EGEE
could become a virtual hub for the industry and spark the world’s largest business market for resources and
applications accessible through virtualized infrastructure (just like CERN initiated the WWW). The current EGEE grid
could provide a critical mass to start this process.
However, some businesses complain that the infrastructure is only theoretically accessible, while others are
unaware of the chance.
Through our work we have resolved a number of technical, architectural and formal obstacles on the way to allow
external commercial entities to use resources from EGEE and associated providers, using LCG, gLite and our client
interface framework. The shining example of our customer, Philips Research, confirms the business case.
