Federal CIO publishes cloud strategy

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

In an effort to reform government IT strategies, federal CIO Vivek Kundra recently published a report in which he called for a "cloud first" approach to IT.

The report comes as part of the Office of Management and Budget's 25-point plan to improve IT efficiency and reduce spending for government agencies. According to the report, current IT strategies suffer from a multitude of inefficient and costly practices.

However, by deploying cloud services, the report asserts, agencies can minimize these inefficiencies and help reduce annual IT spending. According to the report, the government plans to spend $20 billion of its $80 billion IT budget on cloud computing.

"To harness the benefits of cloud computing, we have instituted a cloud first policy," the report states. "This policy is intended to accelerate the pace at which the government will realize the value of cloud computing by requiring agencies to evaluate safe, secure cloud computing options before making any new investments."

The OMB first announced plans to implement a cloud first strategy in December. Several government agencies and departments, including the U.S. Department of Treasury, have already deployed cloud services.