Cloud Computing Spunje » Apps

Delivering the IT promise

Cloud Computing Spunje — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:00:37 +0000

Investment in IT must be a key element of future spending plans despite the need for savings across the public sector, says Socitm president Jos Creese

Like other public sector managers, my first thoughts about life under the coalition have focused on the likely areas, depth and impact of budget cuts. For IT we’ve already had announcements that high-profile projects, including the ContactPoint database and ID cards, are to be scrapped. More will follow.
While these moves are not surprising, there are real concerns at Socitm about indiscriminate slashing of IT spending. Making blanket cuts could be a disaster.

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id=14483

You cannot apply IT over the top of outdated and inefficient processes and hope that, as if by magic, technology will change everything.

Federal government seeks bids for cloud computing services

Cloud Computing Spunje — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:52:38 +0000

Local companies are hoping to help the federal government move into cloud — or Internet-based — computing, as the General Services Administration prepares to select vendors able to offer the services to federal agencies.

The GSA and federal officials are touting the promise of the new technology, but the Government Accountability Office warns that federal agencies remain concerned about potential security risks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/25/AR2010062504339.html

“This is a very important program for the government because it addresses a couple things that have been inhibitors to cloud, the first being ease of procurement,” said Phil Horvitz, the company’s chief technology officer.

Applicants still submitting bids for government cloud services

Cloud Computing Spunje — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:50:37 +0000

The General Services Administration is nearing its bid due date from prospective companies looking to help the government adopt cloud services.

The GSA has given vendors until June 30 to submit bids that explain how they would install a cloud infrastructure for the government. Once all the bids have been received, the GSA will select viable contractors that federal agencies can contact for cloud services, the Washington Post reports.
“Cloud computing is inevitable,” said David McClure, associate adminstrator for the GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, the Washington Post relays. “It’s the speed and pace and direction that we’re always uncertain of, but it’s an inevitable move because the computing industry itself is moving in this direction.”

http://www.centerbeam.com/news/Cloud-Computing/Applicants-still-submitting-bids-for-government-cloud-services-CBOID65030686-GRPOID50590013/View.aspx

McClure’s assessment of cloud computing is accurate, based upon a recent report from IDC. Public IT cloud services revenue is expected to rise to $55.5 billion in 2014, which is nearly three and a half times as much revenue recorded in 2009

U.S. government slowly adopting Web-based computing

Cloud Computing Spunje — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:47:34 +0000

In a fledgling and rapidly growing industry, companies like Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Salesforce.com Inc, the world’s biggest maker of Web-based software, are trying to move rapidly to provide cloud computing services — where data is stored on remote servers — to corporations and the U.S. government, which spends about $80 billion each year on technology.

“The cloud can allow teleworkers to easily and securely access their data and work from wherever they happen to be,” Mike Bradshaw, who heads Google’s federal cloud computing program, said at a congressional hearing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6604IU20100701

The United States, seeking to modernize technology and reduce costs, is embracing “cloud computing,” but privacy and security issues need to be ironed out during a decade-long transition, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Budget likely to increase demand for cloud services

Cloud Computing Spunje — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:29:41 +0000

With Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that there will be an increase in savings expected from each government department, commentators are arguing that the IT industry will begin to see significant traction in the move towards cloud services.

The savings expected from each government department has increased from 20 per cent over a four-year period under Gordon Brown’s government to 25 per cent over the same period under the coalition, according to today’s emergency Budget. More specific details on how departments will meet these savings will be released in the annual spending review on 20 October.

http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2265270/budget-likely-increase-demand

As pressure to reduce costs intensifies

How public sector IT organizations can tap into the power of the cloud

Cloud Computing Spunje — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:27:56 +0000

How can you turn cloud computing from a mere concept to one that is a reality in your IT organization, bringing real value to both internal stakeholders and external constituents? Quite simply: With the right approach and the right tools. Now’s the time to tap into the cloud to exploit the potential economies of scale and achieve cost savings.

http://www.echannelline.com/usa/story.cfm?item=25856

Public cloud services can be used to provide overflow capacity or a fully hosted environment (e.g., the U.S. General Services Administration’s USA.gov Web site) for those government services with less-stringent security requirements.

Government Taps the Power of Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing Spunje — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:25:04 +0000

Since taking office, the Obama administration has pushed the Federal government to improve efficiency in its IT systems and provide citizens with greater transparency through the use of innovative technology. Following this mandate, Federal CIO Vivek Kundra has recently promoted virtualizing and consolidating data centers and operations, and ultimately shifting government IT to a cloud-computing business model. This has led major governmental agencies to identify projects and IT operations that can benefit from moving to the cloud.

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/06/22/government-taps-the-power-of-cloud-computing/

The President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, issued on January 21, 2009, has been a step in the right direction, requiring agencies to develop public-facing web sites and post up-to-date information to support federal transparency, participation and collaboration goals

Federal Agencies Shift Into Cloud Adoption

Cloud Computing Spunje — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:18:33 +0000

Technology leaders with the Department of Energy, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and GSA will outline their next steps in cloud computing on June 15 at InformationWeek’s Government IT Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. With new implementations of infrastructure as a service and software as a service, including hosted apps from Google and Microsoft, the feds appear to be shifting aggressively into full-scale adoption of the cloud services model.

As we’ve been documenting for the past year, Uncle Sam has been investigating the potential benefits of cloud computing and agencies have been planning their first steps into the cloud. As we approach mid 2010, the mood is shifting from discussion and pilot projects into actual deployment.

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/06/federal_agencie.html

How to work through the expected 12-18 month planning cycle

Government and Industry at the Table for Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing Spunje — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:15:36 +0000

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) held an event last week that brought stakeholders in the federal IT community together to discuss cloud standards for data portability, interoperability, and security. It was called the Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop, and members of the Microsoft Federal team attended to brainstorm ideas on how we can best facilitate cloud adoption in the federal government.

Below is a great recap from Susie Adams, Microsoft’s Federal Civilian and IGO Chief Technology Officer.

http://www.rdmag.com/News/Feeds/2010/05/information-tech-government-and-industry-at-the-table-for-cloud-com/

The rest of the day had the same tone: focused on finding and fixing the actual impediments to cloud computing for the government, with a genuine sense of inter-agency cooperation, led from the top.

Gov 2.0: Google Readies Government Cloud

Cloud Computing Spunje — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:13:01 +0000

Google has submitted final materials to get its cloud computing services certified for use by federal agencies, and is nearing release of its government-specific cloud, a top Google executive said Wednesday.While Google Enterprise president Dave Girouard admitted in an interview after his keynote at the Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington, D.C., that the process had taken longer than some may have anticipated — Google announced its government cloud computing plans last September — he said that conversations with potential customers are already underway.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/cloud-saas/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225200270

Google has already been approved as a FedRAMP launch vendor, and now has submitted its final materials to certify its government-specific cloud.