GovCloudTalk

In a recent post on GovCloudTalk, we discussed the federal accreditation process for IT services and solutions.

We took a look at the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and how it required vendors to get accredited by each individual government agency. This has effectively slowed down the adoption of cloud computing in the government while increasing the cost of products and services to the government.

We also looked at the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) which was designed to fast track cloud computing acquisitions by enabling vendors to receive just one accreditation to do business with many government agencies. Despite FedRAMP’s potential to bring these money-saving technologies to the government, the implemention has been slow.

Last week, the General Services Administration (GSA) took a major positive step forward towards expediting the adoption of cloud computing. The GSA awarded 11 vendors spots on the first government-wide contract for cloud computing.

The GSA’s blanket purchase agreement (BPA) will make infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solutions, including cloud storage, virtual machines and Web hosting, available through the Apps.gov portal, a GSA storefront for federal agencies to learn about and purchase cloud services.

The winning vendors were:

• Apptis Inc. partnered with Amazon Web Services
• AT&T
• Autonomic Resources partnered with Carpathia, Enomaly and Dell
• CGI Federal
• Computer Literacy World partnered with Electrosoft, XO Communications and Secure Networks
• Computer Technology Consultants partnered with Softlayer, Inc.
• Eyak Tech LLC
• General Dynamics Information Technology partnered with Carpathia
• Insight Public Sector partnered with Microsoft
• Savvis Federal Systems
• Verizon Federal Inc.

These 11 vendors now have the ability to sell their IaaS services through the Apps.gov portal, but it’s just the first of many steps. The GSA is expected to pursue BPAs for software-as-a-service, email-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service in the future.

As I said, this is a positive step forward in the adoption of cloud computing in the federal government. And it’s definitely coming at the right time, when its cost-savings are sorely needed due to increasing national debt. Unfortunately, it’s still not enough.

These vendors still need to meet FISMA accreditation standards before they can be made completely available to federal agencies. This means that despite the BPA and addition of these solutions to the Apps.gov portal, they’re still not available for agencies to purchase and implement. These vendors still have to pursue GSA certification and accreditation.

Although the GSA is taking steps to bring the federal government into the cloud, there’s still much that needs to be done. FedRAMP needs to be implemented to help speed and simplify the accreditation process. PaaS, SaaS and other solutions need to be embraced as well.

Until cloud services are available via Apps.gov and accreditation is expedited, the government will continue to miss out on the efficiency and cost-savings that comes form a move to the cloud.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Amazon Web Services, Apps.gov, Apptis Inc., AT&T, Autonomic Resources, blanket purchase agreement, BPA, Carpathia, CGI Federal, Computer Literacy World, Computer Technology Consultants, Dell, ederal Risk and Authorization Management Program, Electrosoft, email-as-a-service, Enomaly, Eyak Tech LLC, Federal Information Security Management Act, FEDRAMP, FISMA, General Dynamics Information Technology, General Services Administration, GSA, IaaS, infrastructure-as-a-service, Insight Public Sector, Microsoft, platform-as-a-service, SaaS, Savvis Federal Systems, Secure Networks, Softlayer, software-as-a-service, Verizon Federal Inc., XOCommunications