Federal Government Transitioning to Cloud Computing to Help the Budget

Out of necessity, just about all companies are either on or getting on the cloud computing platform. Adding even more incentive for companies to jump on board is the fact that the federal government just announced it is moving to cloud computing.

In a report from NextGov.com, a federal technology news source, the federal government is switching to the new platform because of the advances in security, along with private sector pressure financial pressures.

Cloud computing enables data to be transferred effortlessly from anywhere and at anytime. It allows organizations to outsource and store data to a hub platform that is easily accessible via the internet. It is an essential factor in conducting business today.

In a recent Fedscoop conference, according to the news source, NASA chief information officer Linda Cureton said governmental organizations trusting all types of data, private and otherwise, to cloud computing could create a new wave of data communication within the industry.

Cureton went on to say, “I’m sure now it’s going to be boom, boom, boom. Our processes at even evolving strategy are too slow right now for what industry is doing. We can’t move that fast.” She added that predicting what the industry will do next, it will most likely be more cost-effective to outsource commercial services, rather than provision their own.

In line with this, the federal government has stated it would allocate around $20 billion of its information technology resources to hybrid, public, or private computer clouds throughout the upcoming four years. The government’s information technology resources are $80 billion, and it anticipates having an annual savings of $5 billion as a result of this move.

Deputy associate administrator of the General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services Martha Dorris also spoke with the NextGov saying that money is playing a factor is some of the organization’s decisions, such as moving “the site’s Spanish counterpart to the cloud.”

Dorris added that the agency was pushed into a corner. “We had not gotten new infrastructure funding for USA.gov or Gobierno in years and years. Our service level was degrading. She went on to mention that the existing content management system needed to be rebooted nightly. The situation was dire, with no recourse.

CNET News reported that the Obama Administration’s CIO Vivek Kundra recently presented at NASA’s Ames Research Center, where it was confirmed that the government’s IT budget is allotting $19 billon toward infrastructure. Kundra also noted that just within the Department of Homeland Security there are 23 data centers; utilizing cloud computing, along with existing systems will be a definite help to the budge.