Face-to-Face Cloud: Overcoming Barriers to the Cloud

Federal IT leaders know the benefits cloud computing can provide, from enabling innovation and faster deployment of application to more available, reliable, scalable and flexible operations. Yet despite understanding these benefits and federal mandates that strongly urge the use of cloud computing whenever possible, many agencies aren’t nearly as invested in the cloud as they want to be. Indeed, according to an annual survey of senior federal IT leaders by the Professional Services Council and Grant Thornton, only eight percent are satisfied with their current level of cloud adoption.

One of the main reasons for the lag in cloud adoption across federal government is concern about security. A study conducted earlier this year by the Office of Management and Budget found notable deficiencies around cloud security. The report found that several departments weren’t able to track and manage risks in a virtual or cloud environment, and that six departments had cloud implementations that weren’t compliant with FISMA requirements. The adoption of cloud also has been hindered by the cultural issues that arise when shifting the management of resources to the cloud, as well as by more practical concerns about migration, integration and data portability challenges.

This event will provide federal IT leaders with insights into these barriers to cloud adoption and how they can overcome them.

Potential topics to be addressed include:

•     Developing a realistic cloud migration path
•     New approaches to data migration
•     Overcoming cultural barriers to cloud adoption
•     The evolution of FedRAMP (and the road ahead)
•     Best practices in security and management governance
•     Cloud contracting avenues
•     Understanding the ROI of cloud