The Department of Defense's cloud strategy aims to transform virtually every aspect of the warfighting effort, and has resulted in a rapidly growing ecosystem of both general-purpose and fit-for-purpose clouds. Some of those efforts are unique to DOD, reflecting the scale, missions and austere operating environments of military operations, while others are readily transferrable to most any agency. All, however, hold valuable lessons for those...

It’s been a decade since "Cloud First" was put forth as a formal goal of government. In that time, agencies have moved from wary experimentation to straightforward "lift and shift" efforts to, increasingly, enterprise as-a-service solutions. The question is no longer whether to leverage cloud servicers, but how best to do so. Yet as the easier moves to the cloud have been made, the remaining systems and workloads require decidedly more c...

IT modernization has been a federal priority for years, but many agencies still struggle to turn that goal into a practical plan of action. Securing multi-year funding is one challenge, but the fundamental obstacle is often the sheer complexity of transforming government-scale systems. Smart, successful modernization demands a holistic approach that addresses several essential pillars: security, network infrastructure, multi-cloud architecture...

Most government agencies have made the journey to cloud since the Cloud First and Cloud Smart strategies came from OMB starting in 2010. Many organizations have more than one cloud. The challenge becomes blending the different types of cloud and service models to provide access to needed data, while at the same time protecting a much enlarged attack surface created by the large number of workers who are accessing the data remotely. If there is...

IT modernization is a leap into the digital future, and cloud computing is its springboard. In the federal sector, cloud is quickening the advancement of mobile technology, data analytics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, agile computing, streamlined development models and advanced cybersecurity. The outcome is growing efficiency and effectiveness in agencies’ missions, improved customer service at agencies seeking to emu...