The Department of Defense’s Chief Information Officer released a report July 2012 describing DOD’s strategy on how to accelerate the adoption of cloud computing. In addition, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has been named as the enterprise cloud service broker to help maintain mission assurance and information interoperability. DOD’s Cloud Computing Goal is to implement cloud computing as the means to deliver the most innovative, efficient, and secure information and IT services to support DOD.
However, DOD is faced with specific cloud computing challenges that require careful adoption considerations, especially in areas of cybersecurity, continuity of operations, information assurance, and resilience. Additional challenges include service acquisition and funding sustainment, data migration and management, and overcoming network dependence at the tactical edge.
To help meet these challenges, DOD is leveraging the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). FedRAMP will establish a standard approach to assess and authorize cloud computing services and define requirements for the continuous auditing and monitoring of cloud computing providers.
According to Teri Takai, “DOD Chief Information Officer, DOD is committed to accelerating the adoption of cloud computing and providing a secure resilient enterprise cloud environment. This strategy will align with all department-wide information technology efficiency initiatives, federal data center consolidation, and cloud computing efforts.”
DOD has identified four concurrent steps to implement the DOD Cloud Environment:
- Foster Adoption of Cloud Computing
- Optimize Data Center Consolidation
- Establish the DOD Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure
- Deliver Cloud Services
Go to www.defense.gov/news/DoDCloudComputingStrategy.pdf to view DOD’s “Cloud Computing Strategy.” The DOD CIO point of contact for DOD Cloud Computing is Robert Vietmeyer at robert.vietmeyer@osd.mil.
