Security remains the single biggest concern of government information technology decision-makers when it comes to cloud computing, a survey has found. However, despite these security concerns, 50% are now considering cloud applications for their agencies, versus only 12% a year ago.
Two-thirds of participants cited security as the most important element in their evaluations. At the same time, those more familiar with cloud computing are more than twice as likely to trust it, 57 percent versus 24 percent. Concerns about security are not the only obstacle holding back federal agencies from moving to the cloud. At least three-quarters of participants identified dependability, availability, and the ability to continue using existing applications as elements that cloud-based solutions must address. Meanwhile, more than one-quarter of participants identified mission-critical data management, procurement, and financial management systems as applications they would never consider moving to the cloud.
Comment from Lockheed Martin's Curt Aubley, Vice President for Cyber Security and NexGen innovation: The government is making strides in transitioning to the cloud and we believe an intelligence driven cyber security approach, and asking the penetrating questions regarding cloud governance, availability, and reliability are key to prudent adoption. Security concerns are the single biggest reason agencies cite for their slow adoption of cloud. There's a lot of hype in the industry.
Comment from Cynthia Poole, research director at Market Connections: One major takeaway is that nearly one-third of participants agreed that cloud-based computing is a good solution for all data and applications, which indicates that if security concerns can be addressed successfully, the cloud would be embraced wholeheartedly by a number of agencies.
About the survey: The study funded by the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance and conducted by Market Connections included in-depth interviews and an online survey. It explored comfort levels, cloud engagement, elements of importance and plans for cloud application migration among U.S. federal government, defense/military, and intelligence agency technology decision-makers and IT contractors serving the federal government. Study findings reflect input from 196 participants from all military branches and a variety of federal civilian agencies.
Contact: http://www.lockheedmartin.com
Showing posts with label Federal government IT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal government IT. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
More Than 68 Percent Of Federal IT Officials Support Private Or Hybrid Models
Government and higher ed IT professionals prefer private and hybrid cloud models, according to a survey. The results cast light on the critical importance of long-term planning and management of cloud computing, having an "exit strategy," ensuring security, and successfully managing virtualized environments.
Key findings among federal government respondents:
-- The overwhelming majority of federal respondents (90.3 percent) said they don't have or are unaware if they have a cloud computing exit strategy, which agencies need if they want to move their data and/or change cloud providers.
-- The majority of federal IT professionals (68.1 percent) believe that private or hybrid clouds will best meet their organizational needs five years or more from now.
-- While the plurality of federal respondents (28.0 percent) named cost savings as their biggest incentive to adopt cloud computing, a large number of federal IT professionals (21.1 percent) believe that cloud computing will provide them with better mission support.
-- A very small percentage of public sector respondents (6.9 percent) see the public cloud model as a viable long-term option for their organization.
-- The majority of federal survey participants (64.7 percent) report that there is some level of confusion at their organization about the distinction between cloud computing and virtualization.
-- Federal respondents (56.4 percent) believe that existing federal security standards and regulations (such as FISMA & FedRAMP) need to be supplemented with additional cloud security standards and regulations, best practices and guidelines.
-- The majority of federal IT professionals (62.2 percent) said that Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra's initiative to eliminate at least 800 of the government's data centers by 2015 is somewhat to very feasible.
-- According to federal respondents, lack of in-house expertise is a bigger barrier to private cloud adoption than upfront costs.
Comment from Paul Garver, chief executive officer of Quest Software Public Sector: Cloud is not the only solution to every problem, but with proper planning and management, can provide numerous benefits to public sector organizations.
About the survey : Quest Software Public Sector, Inc., a subsidiary of Quest Software, sponsored the survey of federal, state and local, and higher education IT professionals. The survey was conducted by the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Norwich University, which gathered data from 646 respondents.
Contact: http://www.quest.com
Key findings among federal government respondents:
-- The overwhelming majority of federal respondents (90.3 percent) said they don't have or are unaware if they have a cloud computing exit strategy, which agencies need if they want to move their data and/or change cloud providers.
-- The majority of federal IT professionals (68.1 percent) believe that private or hybrid clouds will best meet their organizational needs five years or more from now.
-- While the plurality of federal respondents (28.0 percent) named cost savings as their biggest incentive to adopt cloud computing, a large number of federal IT professionals (21.1 percent) believe that cloud computing will provide them with better mission support.
-- A very small percentage of public sector respondents (6.9 percent) see the public cloud model as a viable long-term option for their organization.
-- The majority of federal survey participants (64.7 percent) report that there is some level of confusion at their organization about the distinction between cloud computing and virtualization.
-- Federal respondents (56.4 percent) believe that existing federal security standards and regulations (such as FISMA & FedRAMP) need to be supplemented with additional cloud security standards and regulations, best practices and guidelines.
-- The majority of federal IT professionals (62.2 percent) said that Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra's initiative to eliminate at least 800 of the government's data centers by 2015 is somewhat to very feasible.
-- According to federal respondents, lack of in-house expertise is a bigger barrier to private cloud adoption than upfront costs.
Comment from Paul Garver, chief executive officer of Quest Software Public Sector: Cloud is not the only solution to every problem, but with proper planning and management, can provide numerous benefits to public sector organizations.
About the survey : Quest Software Public Sector, Inc., a subsidiary of Quest Software, sponsored the survey of federal, state and local, and higher education IT professionals. The survey was conducted by the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Norwich University, which gathered data from 646 respondents.
Contact: http://www.quest.com
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
$14.4 Billion Federal Cloud Savings Opportunity
Federal IT managers are bullish on savings potential -- projecting $14.4 billion in year one from cloud implementations -- with e-mail slated as the first application for migration: 42 percent of IT managers are considering "clouding" their e-mail systems, according to a study.
Sixty-four percent of federal CIOs expect that cloud computing will reduce costs and improve service. Feds currently spend $35.7 billion annually supporting legacy applications, and feds project they can save $14.4 billion from steady-state budgets in the first year of private cloud implementation. Further, most feds believe cloud will support other priority federal initiatives: 64 percent of CIOs think cloud expands mandated telework and mobility options.
The study provides the first community feedback on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) new "Cloud First" policy, announced in December 2010. On February 8, 2011, OMB provided additional direction, via its federal Cloud Strategy, to accelerate the safe and secure adoption of cloud computing. Cloud First requires agencies to choose a cloud solution, if one exists, before initiating new IT program build. Further, it requires agencies move one service to the cloud within 12 months and two additional services to the cloud within 18 months. Sixty-four percent of federal CIOs say they plan to move to Cloud First in the next two years. That said, 79 percent say their agencies are not using the mandated Cloud First policy today. As to agencies' cloud status, most are still in discovery or planning stages. Only 17 percent are maintaining Infrastructure as a Service; 15 percent Software as a Service; and 13 percent Platform as a Service.
Considering the path forward, most IT managers say the deadline to move existing applications to the cloud is aggressive. Half anticipate meeting goals -- 52 percent indicate plans to move one service to the cloud in the next 12 months, and 48 percent say they will move two additional services to the cloud in the next 18 months.
Feds cite budget, security, and mission-specific requirements as top challenges. Seventy-nine percent of CIOs say budget constraints are a top obstacle to implementing cloud computing, and 71 percent of CIOs say security concerns are preventing cloud adoption. Though the General Services Administration (GSA) launched FedRAMP in November 2010 to provide a consolidated point for government-wide security authorization and related risk-management activities for cloud computing systems, 56 percent of CIOs say FedRAMP will not aid and speed federal cloud adoption, and 67 percent say that FedRAMP will not make federal cloud computing more secure.
Comment from said Aileen Black, vice president, government sales, VMware: Cloud computing in its many forms truly has the potential to transform government. We applaud the federal government's leadership and dedication to IT innovation, and critically, its recognition of the cloud's immense savings potential, whether private, public, or hybrid.
Comment from Steve O'Keeffe, founder, MeriTalk: Fed IT decision makers hear the business benefits cloud and clear. Why are Cloud First and FedRAMP falling on deaf ears?
About the report: MeriTalk's "Federal Cloud Weather Report" report provides a status on federal cloud computing migration, explores agencies' cloud challenges, and delivers insight on the road ahead. Underwritten by VMware, the report is based on an online survey of 167 federal government CIOs and IT managers in January 2011.
Contact: http://www.meritalk.com/fedcloudweatherreport
Sixty-four percent of federal CIOs expect that cloud computing will reduce costs and improve service. Feds currently spend $35.7 billion annually supporting legacy applications, and feds project they can save $14.4 billion from steady-state budgets in the first year of private cloud implementation. Further, most feds believe cloud will support other priority federal initiatives: 64 percent of CIOs think cloud expands mandated telework and mobility options.
The study provides the first community feedback on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) new "Cloud First" policy, announced in December 2010. On February 8, 2011, OMB provided additional direction, via its federal Cloud Strategy, to accelerate the safe and secure adoption of cloud computing. Cloud First requires agencies to choose a cloud solution, if one exists, before initiating new IT program build. Further, it requires agencies move one service to the cloud within 12 months and two additional services to the cloud within 18 months. Sixty-four percent of federal CIOs say they plan to move to Cloud First in the next two years. That said, 79 percent say their agencies are not using the mandated Cloud First policy today. As to agencies' cloud status, most are still in discovery or planning stages. Only 17 percent are maintaining Infrastructure as a Service; 15 percent Software as a Service; and 13 percent Platform as a Service.
Considering the path forward, most IT managers say the deadline to move existing applications to the cloud is aggressive. Half anticipate meeting goals -- 52 percent indicate plans to move one service to the cloud in the next 12 months, and 48 percent say they will move two additional services to the cloud in the next 18 months.
Feds cite budget, security, and mission-specific requirements as top challenges. Seventy-nine percent of CIOs say budget constraints are a top obstacle to implementing cloud computing, and 71 percent of CIOs say security concerns are preventing cloud adoption. Though the General Services Administration (GSA) launched FedRAMP in November 2010 to provide a consolidated point for government-wide security authorization and related risk-management activities for cloud computing systems, 56 percent of CIOs say FedRAMP will not aid and speed federal cloud adoption, and 67 percent say that FedRAMP will not make federal cloud computing more secure.
Comment from said Aileen Black, vice president, government sales, VMware: Cloud computing in its many forms truly has the potential to transform government. We applaud the federal government's leadership and dedication to IT innovation, and critically, its recognition of the cloud's immense savings potential, whether private, public, or hybrid.
Comment from Steve O'Keeffe, founder, MeriTalk: Fed IT decision makers hear the business benefits cloud and clear. Why are Cloud First and FedRAMP falling on deaf ears?
About the report: MeriTalk's "Federal Cloud Weather Report" report provides a status on federal cloud computing migration, explores agencies' cloud challenges, and delivers insight on the road ahead. Underwritten by VMware, the report is based on an online survey of 167 federal government CIOs and IT managers in January 2011.
Contact: http://www.meritalk.com/fedcloudweatherreport
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