The Cloud is becoming an enabler for enhanced control and management of IP and telecommunications networks. A rapidly-growing example of this is Software Defined Networking (SDN), in which the underlying tools include virtualisation and “Cloud” technology. However, a new paradigm is beginning to emerge: “Cloud” networks: nano, pico, small, large, super large, and extraordinarily large. Location of virtual machines is a major concern for performance optimisation, energy consumption, reliability, cost, etc. In such distributed global environments, control and adequate security measures are of particular concern, yet these, to date, have been largely overlooked giving rise to numerous attacks and incidents involving cloud and virtualised resources.

The objective of this conference is to present state-of-the-art solutions for Cloud solutions, and their associated management and orchestration. The first aspect of this conference will cover new control and orchestration solutions. A second aspect relates to the safety and security of applications made available through Cloud technology and solutions. For this reason new concepts such as an “authentication credentials cloud” solution can increase security in network protocols, as well as fixed and mobile applications. A third element that will be covered involves the solutions and inherent challenges involving the relationship between the control plane (hypervisors) and userspace (virtual machines).