Kundra exit could slow down government cloud computing plans

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

It's unknown whether the upcoming resignation of federal CIO Vivek Kundra will spell the end of the government's move to modernize much of its antiquated IT infrastructure by adopting cloud computing.

There are some signs that the transition could still be pursued, according to the Washington Post, which cited a recent statement from Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew as saying that he would continue Kundra's work on the matter.

However, director of IT management issues at the Government Accountability Office David Powner told the newspaper that the departure of the federal CIO was likely to at least delay his cloud computing adoption project.

"He was a big reason why certain things got done," Powner said in an interview.

Sourya Biswas of Cloudtweaks.com said that much would depend on who succeeds Kundra in the role. He noted that a weaker appointee could allow career staff in many government departments to fall back into old, bad habits.

Regardless of progress at the federal level, the private sector has continued to move into the cloud at a rapid pace, according to experts.