Jeff Erlichman

 

Posts by Jeff Erlichman

GSA To Accept First FedRAMP Third Party Assessment Applications

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The General Services Administration will begin accepting applications Jan. 9, 2012, for the first group of companies to be chosen as Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAO) for the newly launched FedRAMP initiative, also known as the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program program.

Officials for GSA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology made the joint announcement during the “Industry Forum on FedRAMP and Third Party Assessment Organizations”, held December 16 at GSA headquarters in Washington, DC. The half-day session presented the most up-to-date guidance for industry representatives on the FedRAMP Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) application process. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 16, 2011 at 5:08 PM

IT Reform Saves $6 Billion This Year Says Federal CIO VanRoekel

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Stepped up data center consolidation, growing cloud migration and hard-hitting TechStat assessments of federal IT programs are netting more than $6 billion in cost saving implications this year, according to Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel.

VanRoekel used the one year anniversary of the launch of the Federal IT Reform Initiative and the 25 Point Management Reform Plan to tout some of government’s IT accomplishments over the last year in his presentation Federal Information Technology: Doing More with Less through Strategic Investments. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 8, 2011 at 4:26 PM

OMB Issues FedRAMP Directive; Key Step Toward Common Cloud Security Framework

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Calling it a “monumental first step in addressing security in cloud computing,” Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel announced the official launch of the long-awaited Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) today.

FedRAMP provides a standardized “do once, use often approach” framework for cloud security; one VanRoekel said will save money and reduce staff time needed to conduct security assessments, thus allowing the government to better purchase and leverage cloud technologies. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 8, 2011 at 3:27 PM

New Study Shows Power of Data Analytics

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Data analytics are proving to be a powerful tool for improving the results of government program, according to a new report released today, “From Data To Decisions: The Power of Analytics.”

The report, which examines how several federal agencies used data, is a joint effort between the Partnership for Public Service and the Public Sector Business Analytics & Optimization practice at the IBM Center for The Business of Government. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 30, 2011 at 1:40 PM

Army Saving $100 Million In Email Costs With Move To DISA Cloud

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The Army has entered DISA’s Cloud Computing Purple Zone.

It’s secure. It’s effective. And it is saving the Army $100 million this year alone on enterprise email operating costs, according to Mike Krieger, deputy chief information officer, G-6, U.S. Army. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 21, 2011 at 12:56 PM

Cloud Computing: Blasting Myths And Building Trust

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Back in the 1830s, most Americans lived on farms. Many probably secured their life savings in their trusty mattress. Then a new local bank opens in town promising more security, but has no track record to prove it. People didn’t trust the bank at first; it was new to the area and skeptical farmers felt it was not intrinsically secure.

“Now fast forward to the cloud,” cloud expert and blogger Kevin Jackson said last week as a panelist at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cloud Computing Forum IV. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 18, 2011 at 11:00 AM

The Facebook-Friendly Army

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Social media is by definition social.

Thus, it raises real security concerns among the Army brass. Until recently, many surely bristled at the thought of communicating with their personnel through popular social media platforms. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 4, 2011 at 1:00 PM

Federal Cloud Adoption Strategy Enters Phase 2

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology launched Phase 2 of its efforts to guide the adoption of cloud computing in the federal government with the release this week of the first two volumes of the U.S. Government Cloud Computing Technology Roadmap, Release 1.0.

Release 1.0 of the roadmap, is “designed to support the secure and effective adoption of the cloud computing model by federal agencies to reduce costs and improve services,” according to authors of the NIST document. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 4, 2011 at 10:06 AM

How Super ESPC Contracts Are Producing Super Savings for Energy Department

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If you like saving taxpayer money — to the tune of $13.1 billion to date and counting – then you already love Energy Savings Performance Contracts or ESPCs.

ESPCs are a super deal for American taxpayers and federal agencies alike. But despite the impressive savings they have produced, ESPCs are not well known in the IT world. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2011 at 3:14 PM

How A Federal Data Center Cut Its Energy Needs By 80 Percent

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When the New York Times reported on July 20, 2011 that the federal government plans to close 800 data centers by 2015, you would think that would be new news.

Federal agencies and those in the federal information technology community, however, have been grappling with the news for more than a year–and in particular, an ambitious set of energy efficiency requirements. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 9, 2011 at 7:00 AM
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