The explosion of mobile devices and technologies can be overwhelming to many organizations, especially federal agencies concerned with saving money through increased efficiency while maintaining network security.
A newly released desktop virtualization system focused on the government sector seeks to resolve these issues by providing a scalable, secure, end-to-end capability that can allow organizations to manage a variety of devices across networks. Keep reading →
More federal managers view information technology as an opportunity than as a cost, according to a new survey released this week. But with so many other priorities on executives’ plates, and the sense that IT departments could be delivering more effectively than many are, technology leaders have their work cut out in demonstrating that IT can contribute to real cost savings or to better decision making.
More than two thirds of federal executives believe their IT departments understand their agency’s missions and grasp their agencies core challenges. Keep reading →
Cloud computing isn’t just about technology – it is about transformation, leadership and change. When it comes to government IT, cloud is typically 80% of the discussion, but only 20% of the budget.
With the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) 18-month “Cloud First” deadline passing in June and the federal government hoping to accredit three cloud service providers under FedRAMP by the end of 2012, cloud computing is at the forefront of government IT. Keep reading →
New austerity is here to stay – coupled with more demand for user-friendly citizen engagement from our government workforce. And cybersecurity concerns are growing as well, as our enemies become more sophisticated and inventive. How can Federal agencies meet all three pressures – lowering costs while improving services and keeping data safe?
More than ever before, innovative technologies are needed across government, to keep the government workforce engaged while also helping them to effectively deliver support for the mission. Government is working hard today to implement the infrastructure needed to deliver more services, increase and enhance interaction and enable greater workforce mobility and citizen engagement. Mobility is growing in importance, even as cybersecurity becomes a bigger issue. Despite the promise of mobility to bring greater productivity and flexibility, 78 percent of federal IT professionals said mobility also brings greater security risks, according to a recent VMware survey. Keep reading →
The federal budget has been on a roller-coaster ride – and one with some pretty steep drops – for the last few years, and it can seem like the contracting industry can do little but strap in and hold on.
Except, of course, that there are other, very similar clients. Clients who may see a recovery and a spending boom, even as the federal budget continues to decline. Keep reading →
With cloud computing becoming an integral part of the business of government, the recent Derecho storm raised legitimate concerns about the increasing reliance on large, grid-dependent data centers.
As smart, self-healing grids are still years out, cloud service providers are starting to see a new selling point in offering grid-independent solutions. Keep reading →
Federal agencies are steadily moving to adopt cloud computing architectures for their IT services. But their progress is still spotty, and there is still a large amount of uncertainty about the technology in the public and private sectors, said Dave McClure, assistant administrator, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, General Services Administration.
McClure has a bird’s eye view of that progress. His office is responsible for overseeing and managing the GSA’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which is a government-wide effort providing standardized assessment, security and continuous monitoring of cloud products and services. Keep reading →
There’s a battle brewing in the agency IT world, and for once, it has nothing to do with cloud computing — at least on the surface.
This fight is over hypervisors – a key component of a virtualization strategy and one that forms the basis for a successful private or hybrid cloud implementation. Specific battle lines are drawing around the various hypervisor “flavors” and which, if any, federal IT teams should standardize upon. Keep reading →
It’s no surprise that recent reports of NASA’s shift from OpenStack — and open source cloud computing — in favor of a commercial platform stirred some chatter in and around the federal space.
After all, NASA officials foresaw open source cloud computing’s potential and invested in the new phenomenon back in 2008, when it was still just a shimmer on the horizon. Keep reading →
Federal agencies and regional data center operators, including one operated by Amazon Web Services, are still taking stock of the impact of widespread power outages that began Friday night and continue to leave large swaths of greater Washington, D.C., region without electrical power. Keep reading →