U.S. Defense Department to implement cloud computing strategy
Thursday, December 22, 2011 11:44:28 PM
Just weeks after the United States government added security standards for agency cloud adoption, Congress is forcing the Defense Department to create a plan for implementing cloud computing.
According to Bloomberg, the Defense Department's fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, which Congress recently approved, requires the Pentagon to develop a cloud adoption outline by April 1, although the bill doesn't disclose the Pentagon's timeline for using cloud technology.
The U.S. government hopes widespread cloud adoption will lower IT costs, while maintaining or improving the security of highly confidential data, which has been the main deterrent for agency-wide cloud usage, the report said.
"The secret to cloud is what does your contract say about quality of service, how your data is secured and what happens if a server rack goes down," said James Lewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the Center for Strategic and International studies, as reported by the source. "And if you do it right you’re certainly no worse off and you might be better off."
Despite some government IT managers expressing concern about security in the cloud, many businesses and agencies are using cloud services for data storage, application sharing and other needs. According to a recent survey, more than half of cloud adopters experience improved efficiency, while 47 percent report lower IT costs.
-McAfee Cloud Security
