by Shane Henson — June 15, 2012—The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced an important benchmark it says will pave the way for agencies across the federal government to accelerate the adoption of cloud computing.
This move is needed, says the GSA, because cloud computing saves the federal government money and provides flexible platforms that enable increased efficiency, agility, and innovation. To speed the adoption of cloud computing, the GSA’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, known as FedRAMP, will standardize security assessments of cloud products and services across the government to avoid duplication and to deliver significant savings. Also, the program will now begin accepting security certification applications from private-sector companies that provide cloud solutions.
GSA is leading the way in helping the federal government transition to cloud services, which will in turn help agencies meet the goals set by the Obama Administration on cloud computing and reducing the numbers of federal data centers, it says.
GSA’s accomplishments on the cloud so far include:
First to move e-mail to the cloud: Last year, GSA was the first federal agency to move to a cloud-based e-mail system, which has saved $2 million dollars in costs so far. In addition, e-mail system operating costs are expected to see additional 5% in savings, with an estimated $15 million in savings over five years.
Working to standardize security of cloud services: FedRAMP is an initiative to standardize security assessments of cloud products and services. By addressing one of the key barriers to cloud adoption, this program will accelerate adoption by federal agencies. It will allow agencies to share authorizations, saving time and money otherwise spent on duplicative security reviews.
Working on blanket purchase agreements for the federal government: Everything agencies need to move to the cloud is available right now through GSA. The products currently available from GSA include data storage, virtual machines, and Web hosting. GSA says it is working to provide more cloud services to federal agencies, including e-mail services.
