The General Services Administration is making it easier for agencies to acquire cloud computing services, including cloud storage, virtual machines, web hosting, email hosting and other services, said Mary Davie, assistant commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service Office of Integrated Technology Service.

Speaking at an industry conference on cloud computing earlier today in Washington, Davie reiterated the cost savings agencies can reasonably expect are being enhanced by increased competition among vendors participating in GSA’s Schedule 70 contracting vehicle.

Davie also pointed to GSA’s recent migration of 17,000 email accounts to a cloud-based platform as evidence of the GSA’s commitment to offer agencies its new email as a service offering.

The new EaaS includes five components: Software as a service email services, office automation, electronic records management, migration services, and integration services.

GSA’s “will streamline the acquisition of EaaS, offering agencies price, process and service advantages,” she said.

EaaS reduces the procurement lifecycle and adds an additional level of competition to provide additional savings to agencies, she said.

She expects the service to generate 44 percent savings, or $1 million, for every 7500 email accounts compared to no-cloud based systems, she said.

The cloud computing conference, produced by 1105 Media, wraps up tomorrow.

This document includes an outline of her remarks.