Time may be running out on the Federal government’s plan to replace and modernize billions of dollars’ worth of legacy IT systems—some of which date back more than 40 years and control critical programs, including the U.S. military’s nuclear arsenal. […]
Less than three months after a wave of negative feedback from industry forced the General Services Administration to revamp the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, a new MeriTalk survey shows for the first time that many government IT officials doubt the value of the program in its current form. […]
Content management company Box unveiled its Box for Government initiative, which brings together different product suites designed for government and enables agencies to work remotely, collaboratively, and with an assurance of security. Box for Government has already received a FedRAMP Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO) from the Defense Information Systems Agency. […]
If cloud computing is the future of government information technology, then Cisco may be one of the most relevant companies in Washington, D.C. Cisco’s FedRAMP authorization—granted by the Department of Health and Human Services—represents a significant development for both the company and the government. […]
FedRAMP Director Matt Goodrich said some Federal agencies may have refused to share a FedRAMP ATO granted to a CSP, but that’s only a small part of the story behind one of the major shortcomings of the FedRAMP program. One theory: It’s not that agencies are refusing to share—it’s that cloud service providers are failing to capture new business. […]
MeriTalk Executive Editor Dan Verton discusses the theme of this year’s Akamai Government Forum—Safeguarding a Dynamic Government—with Akamai CEO Dr. Tom Leighton. During his keynote address, Leighton offered a unique look at the future of the Internet and security. […]
Third party cloud security auditing firms are worried that new documentation requirements put in place by FedRAMP could open them to significant liability risks. […]
The Government Accountability Office released a report detailing the 10 key practices agencies should follow in creating service level agreements (SLA) with cloud service providers. […]
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence plans to hire its first chief information officer to take charge of IT programs across the ODNI’s 20 component offices, particularly the effort to retire legacy IT systems and migrate users to the cloud. […]
For FITARA to reach its full potential, Federal agencies must dissect the real problems and attract stronger CIOs, Dave Powner, Director of IT Issues at the Government Accountability Office, told MeriTalk’s FITARA Forum in Washington, D.C. […]
Just 11 percent of Federal IT managers say their data centers are fully equipped to meet their agency’s current mission demands, according to a report by MeriTalk. The report, titled “Flash Forward–The Future of the Federal Data Center” and underwritten by Pure Storage, asked 150 Federal IT/data center professionals to predict and examine the future […]
Two months after a cloud industry advocacy group published a scathing assessment of the Federal government’s cloud computing security certification process and took their concerns to Capitol Hill, the General Services Administration’s FedRAMP announced significant structural changes to the way the government will assess cloud service providers. […]
Skilled workforce retention is a major problem for the Department of Defense’s IT issues, according to DOD CIO Terry Halvorsen, and salaries are partly to blame. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs is on what appears to be an irreversible losing streak when it comes to its annual cybersecurity audit. Last week, VA’s Office of the Inspector General slapped the agency with a “material weakness” designation for its information security efforts—the 16th year in a row that VA has failed the annual […]
Microsoft Azure was selected for a FedRAMP pilot program that will establish a high-impact baseline for cloud-computing services. This essentially allows Federal agencies to move more sensitive data onto contracted cloud-computing services, enabling the sensitive data to operate on the more technically advanced level that is already possible for low-impact data. […]
A representative of a Federal cloud computing industry advisory group filed a formal complaint this week with the General Services Administration’s inspector general alleging officials from FedRAMP issued veiled threats of retaliation against member companies that publicly voiced concerns about problems with the cloud security certification process. […]
In a Customer Perspective panel at the FixFedRAMP event, three Federal CIOs and CTOs expressed frustration with current FedRAMP operations. […]
A “fireside chat” brought the heat to Capitol Hill on Thursday. Members of the Cloud Computing Caucus delivered a scathing review of the FedRAMP certification process, but also strong words of advice, to a roomful of Federal workers and private contractors at the Fix FedRAMP forum. […]
The Joint Authorization Board branded ServiceNow with its coveted FedRamp Provisional Authority to Operate certification. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has more than 100 U.S. Federal government customers. […]
Battle Resource Management purchased IT services firm Clearsoft, enabling it to provide end-to-end services such as data-to-cloud migration and ultimately broaden its footprint within the Federal government. […]
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission awarded Salient CRGT a task order with a two-year contract for roughly $1.44 million to provide the agency with Master Data Management and Enterprise Data Exchange services. Maureen Conley, NRC public affairs officer, said, “This project utilizes a private cloud, not a FedRamp compliant service.” […]
The word “other” and other vague terms have infiltrated the naming convention of Federal spending categories and could wreak havoc on project budgets, according to one International Data Corporation official. […]
FedRAMP Fast Forward, a Federal IT industry advocacy group, today published a six-step plan to reform and improve the cloud security certification process known as the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). […]
Shawn Kingsberry, who led the first Federal technology system, Recovery.gov, to the cloud, will head Unisys Corporation’s global government practice division. Kingsberry will provide guidance to Federal clients as they transition from manual and analog processes to digital government techniques. […]
Faster is better, and government acquisition could move much more quickly. That’s why companies are signing up for a new way to sell cloud products and services to Federal agencies. The General Services Administration (GSA) added a new special item number to IT Schedule 70 of the agency’s Federal Acquisition Service in June. With the […]
The General Services Administration is considering a new, governmentwide acquisition contract that will allow Federal agencies to buy a range of cloud services to replace expiring blanket purchase agreements. The new contract would allow agencies to purchase infrastructure, platform, and software services and purchase integrated delivery solutions like hybrid cloud, Stan Kaczmarczyk, director of the […]
The cloud is becoming a popular tool for businesses across the country, with 88 percent of enterprises saying cloud improves responsiveness to business needs, 69 percent saying it has enabled them to re-engineer one or more of their business processes, and 65 percent saying it improves overall operations, according to Verizon Enterprise Solutions’ 2016 State […]
Before Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs) can perform security assessments of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) for FedRAMP, they need the approval of a nonprofit in Frederick, Md. The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation, or A2LA, isn’t a household name in cybersecurity. But with Federal agencies spending billions of dollars on cloud computing, A2LA has an […]
Editor’s Note: Richard Beutel is the original author and legislative manager for the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), a landmark piece of legislation signed into law in December 2014. He is also the former lead acquisition and procurement policy counsel for House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. This column […]
Cloud service provider Autonomic Resources’ was the first CSP to earn compliance from FedRAMP and the first to earn compliance from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). What’s next? […]