As cloud adoption matures across government, many agencies are realizing that this new IT model is much more than a technology decision. It’s a business decision that has had significant impacts on the way agencies buy, manage and deliver IT capabilities internally and to citizens. The challenge, however, is mapping the best path forward to move from legacy operations to a future state that supports faster, more reliable applications that power financial, workforce, security and other operations governmentwide. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach for moving every IT application to the cloud. […]
Government, industry, and the Hill got together for a collaborative powwow about government cloud progress, and specifically FedRAMP, the standardized cloud security certification, at the MeriTalk Cloud Computing Brainstorm on June 7 at the Newseum. The session reviewed progress to date and the path forward for the once-embattled GSA program–and revealed new transparency and important […]
Congress will be busy with future tech initiatives and members have high hopes for the potential of current programs, according to two congressmen who spoke June 7 at MeriTalk’s Cloud Computing Brainstorm. Congressional IT leaders Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., talked about the future of major IT initiatives such as FedRAMP, the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, FITARA, and executive leadership, offering insight into the shape of IT developments in the coming months. […]
Josh Ziman, technology product manager within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, said agencies need to evaluate their biggest constraints before big efforts. He and his team addressed the question of how much space was in their data centers by automating their records system. […]
Whether it’s the impression that everyone already has a cloud or very real Federal technology mandates, many organizations are feeling intense pressure to “Buy a cloud.” But do you really want to buy a cloud? It’s more likely that you want to solve a very real business problem, stretch your budget or resources, or enable new capabilities within your organization. In this eBook, we’ll explain why buying a cloud shouldn’t be an end-goal in and of itself. […]
A broad range of experts in FedRAMP, Cloud, and IT Modernization will gather at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on June 7 to discuss the future of cloud acquisition in the Federal government. MeriTalk’s “The Modernization Movement: Cloud for Next-Gen Government” event will take an in-depth look at the trajectory of Federal cloud acquisition and what it means for government and industry. […]
With growing data, shrinking budgets, and a goal to close 52% of all data centers by 2018, Feds are turning to cloud, “as-a-Service,” and OpEx vs. CapEx dollars. Agencies can “buy what they use” vs. “buy what they forecast,” improving cost control, asset management, and capacity planning across the enterprise. […]
A horse named Cloud Computing won the Preakness Stakes on May 20, covering the mile and three-sixteenths race course in 1 minute, 55.98 seconds. The race brought an unexpected awareness to the IT solution. […]
Cloud identity management provider Okta has received FedRAMP certification with Department of Justice sponsorship, meeting compliance requirements of more than 300 controls. […]
Adobe wants citizens to love their government through better customer experience and security, according to John Landwehr, Adobe’s vice president and chief technology officer for the public sector, and Karen Terrell, Adobe’s new vice president of public sector. […]
Rep. Will Hurd’s Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on Wednesday. […]
Increased migration to and applications in the cloud make it more difficult to identify insider threats, according to 59 percent of government employees that responded to the MeriTalk Inside Job survey, underwritten by Symantec and released on May 15. […]
As adoption of cloud services increases across Federal agencies, it is logical to assume that cloud spending will increase as well. However, a new report from IDC Insights indicates a decrease in cloud spending in fiscal year 2017. […]
Federal agencies with technology problems have one man to go to–Reed Cordish, special assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives. […]
John Zangardi, acting chief information officer of the Department of Defense, announced that his team has been working on a pilot for the Defense Travel System in order to modernize and make it more user-centric to serve DoD civilians and the armed forces. […]
The main Federal security certification program designed to accelerate cloud adoption throughout the government has also become an important security standard for the commercial world, according to Cynthia Stoddard, senior vice president and chief information officer of Adobe. […]
The cyber threat landscape has experienced a major shift toward politically motivated attacks, according to the Symantec 2017 Internet Security Threat Report. […]
MeriTalk sat down with Deloitte’s managing director of Federal technology strategy and architecture Doug Bourgeois to discuss data center optimization strategies and how agencies can better take advantage of private sector expertise. […]
Platform-based cloud models will be a “major impetus” for Federal agencies in the next few years, while Software-as-a-Service models will move more slowly, says Doug Bourgeois of Deloitte. Bourgeois will be speaking at MeriTalk’s Data Center Brainstorm on March 23. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a FedRAMP authority to operate for Microsoft’s Azure Cloud, which covers VA’s most sensitive data, Microsoft announced. […]
Agencies whose websites ranked low in the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s study of government websites can improve by moving to the cloud, industry experts say. […]
Microsoft on Monday announced the general availability of Power BI Pro and HD Insights data visualization tools and a preview of its Cognitive Insights on the Azure Government cloud. […]
Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing solutions have been added to CTAC’s GSA IT 70 Federal Supply Schedule, according to a February CTAC announcement. […]
Veritas and Microsoft announced their partnership to help companies better manage their data in the cloud by using Veritas’ Enterprise Vault.cloud management and governance service on Microsoft Azure. […]
A recent update to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) “Worldwide Semiannual Public Cloud Services Spending Guide” predicts that worldwide cloud spending will reach $122.5 billion in 2017 and $203.4 billion in 2020. […]
The best cloud companies to work for all make an effort to create a culture of employee engagement and success. Forbes released a list of the top cloud companies to work for, including M-Files, Apprenda, Zerto, OutSystems, Mendix, and DocuSign. MeriTalk reached out to them in order to learn the secrets of the best workplaces. […]
Agency chief information officers realize the need to convert from on-premise data centers to the cloud, but still find it challenging to convince agency heads that it’s a necessary step. David Bray, CIO of the Federal Communications Commission, said Feb. 8 at the Cloud Computing Caucus Advisory Group meeting, “If you are wedded to legacy systems you are trying to turn a battleship very, very slowly.” […]
Collaboration and a willingness to learn new practices are the best ways to address cybersecurity concerns surrounding cloud computing, according to IT leaders from across the country. Greg Urban, chief operations officer of Maryland, said that a strong core of talent makes a big difference when exploring cloud capabilities. […]
Congress will pursue IT modernization legislation just as meticulously as in the last Congress, in large part due to the high retention of active representatives in the last election, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said at the Cloud Computing Caucus Advisory Group’s Destination Cloud event. […]
Chief information officers, especially those in the health care sector, should be aware of a shift in spending when they move to the cloud, advised Tom Andriola, CIO of the University of California school system. […]