FalconStor duo head cloud-computing panel

Two executives from Melville-based data-protection provider FalconStor Software Inc. have been chosen to head a not-for-profit cloud-computing commission. 

The FalconStor execs are Bernie Wu, vice president of business development, and Chris Poelker, vice president of enterprise solutions. Wu will be commissioner and Poelker deputy commissioner. 

The commission includes academics from such institutions as Georgetown University and MIT, and from businesses such as Salesforce.com and Microsoft. 

The commission is known as Cloud2. (Its full name is Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Deployment of the Cloud.) 

The commission is sponsored by TechAmerica Foundation.

FalconStor said in a news release that “the commission is under a three-month mandate to provide the Obama Administration with recommendations” on cloud computing for the federal government -- how federal agencies should use it, and how the government should set public policy to spur domestic innovation.

Cloud computing refers to flexible, cost-saving subscription plans allowing companies to use – and pay for – variable amounts of data storage, software and other resources over the Internet, as needed. Companies such as CA Technologies and Microsoft are big on the idea.

By reducing the need to have hardware and software installed on its own premises, can help reduce overall costs for software and hardware.

Information Week's John Foley sums up his view of the concept: "Cloud computing is on-demand access to virtualized IT resources that are housed outside of your own data center, shared by others, simple to use, paid for via subscription, and accessed over the Web."