Performance.gov

The United States Government is the world’s largest consumer of information technology, spending approximately $80 billion annually on more than 10,000 different systems. Fragmentation of systems, poor project execution, and the drag of legacy technology in the Federal government have presented barriers to achieving the productivity and performance gains found when technology is deployed effectively in the private sector. In order to counter these barriers, the Federal government’s Cloud Computing Initiative was launched in September 2009. Cloud computing has the potential to greatly reduce waste, increase data center efficiency and utilization rates, and lower operating costs. The benefits of cloud computing are numerous, including pay-as-you-go models, increased flexibility, faster deployment of IT services, and decreased time spent on IT operations and maintenance.

In May 2010, the Federal Chief Information Officer’s Council released a report titled State of Public Sector Cloud Computing, which further outlined the benefits of cloud computing and documented 30 illustrative cloud computing case studies at the Federal, state, and local government levels. These case studies reflect the growing movement across the public sector to leverage cloud computing technologies to improve the delivery of IT services.

In December 2010, the Administration made cloud computing an integral part of the comprehensive 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management. Under this Plan, the Administration instituted a “cloud first” policy, which states that if a secure, reliable, and cost effective cloud solution exists, agencies are required to implement that solution. Under this policy, the government will consider IT purchases as services, rather than assets, fundamentally changing the way the Federal government buys technology.

Subsequently, in February 2011, the Administration published the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy, which stated that an estimated $20 billion of the Federal Government’s $80 billion in IT spending could be a potential target for migration to cloud computing solutions in the future. The strategy articulates the benefits, considerations, and trade-offs of cloud computing, provides a decision framework and case examples to support agencies in migrating towards cloud computing, highlights cloud computing implementation resources, and identifies Federal Government activities, roles, and responsibilities for catalyzing cloud adoption.

More recently, the Administration announced that based on the Cloud First policy, agencies moved 40 services to the cloud with 79 slated for transition in the next six months, and 50+ legacy systems have been eliminated. These cloud migrations are helping meet the goals highlighted in the 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management, which called for agencies to move three services to the cloud by June 2012.  The adoption of cloud solutions has eliminated legacy and duplicative systems, while also integrating new levels of security, reliability, and functionality, to include collaboration, virtual meetings, and other innovations. As examples, the USDA is migrating 120,000 users across 5,000 locations to the cloud, which will reduce costs by $27 million over five years, while the GSA has shifted 17,000 users to the cloud, and anticipates savings of $15 million over five years.

It was also noted in the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy, that the government would continue to address the challenges posed by cloud computing. These challenges have been noted by stakeholders within agencies, Congress and industry. The challenges most often cited as the largest barrier to cloud adoption is security. As more Federal systems and users move to cloud computing environments, the government must ensure the safety, security and reliability of its data. 

In order to address this challenge, the Administration created the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). Announced in December 2011, FedRAMP will change the way the Federal government secures cloud solutions by providing a uniform risk management approach that uses a standard set of baseline security controls that will be used government-wide. The Program allows joint authorizations and continuous security monitoring services for government and commercial cloud computing systems intended for multi-agency use. Continuous monitoring coordination is essential to provide agencies the ability to facilitate their risk management processes by reporting the security posture of their IT assets residing in the cloud. Joint authorization of cloud providers results in a common security risk model that can be leveraged across the Federal government. The risk model will also enable the government to "approve once, and use often" by ensuring multiple agencies gain the benefit and insight of the FedRAMP's authorization and access to service providers’ authorization packages. Currently, the Federal government spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year securing the use of IT systems in a duplicative, inconsistent, and time consuming manner. The Administration’s expects FedRAMP to result in significant cost savings when assessing, authorizing, and continuously monitoring cloud solutions.

Looking ahead, the Government will stand up cloud computing contract vehicles for commodity IT services—services that every agency depends upon. One of the first services the Administration will focus on is email, as email is the lifeline every agency uses to conduct its business. In May 2011, GSA issued a request for quote (RFQ) for vendors to provide cloud based email, collaboration, and records management services. The idea behind this effort is simple, yet powerful. Instead of agencies focusing on their individual needs, building duplicative systems and unneeded data centers, the Federal government is seeking solutions from a government-wide perspective. GSA has also begun similar processes specifically designed for other back-end, cloud-based solutions, including data center services.

More details on the government’s adoption of cloud computing services can be found on agency specific pages on Performance.gov.