Cloud computing benefits being felt across government agencies

Friday, September 23, 2011

Cloud computing continues to provide companies of all sizes with immense advantages, but the technology is also benefiting the federal government.

According to a recent report by Government Executive, the Department of Agriculture's Forrest Service has established an on-demand cloud computing solution from IBM and RightNow to reduce volume calls by 10 percent.

The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory deployed a private cloud to establish a system of 300 virtual machines. According to the report, the agency has decommissioned 100 physical servers on 13 physical hosts, thus saving the lab $1.4 million.

Also, the Treasury Department launched a cloud-based scanning system to increase its scanning capacity by 500 percent, as well as reduce its per-scan cost by 86 percent, the report stated.

"By eliminating and reducing costs associated with up-front licensing costs, maintenance and hardware acquisition, the [Federal Labor Relations Authority] agency has reduced cost of ownership by 88 percent over five years," said the Government Executive report.

A study conducted by IT operations firm ScienceLogic revealed that 50 percent of government agencies have begun the migration to cloud computing services.