Where is the cloud going next? Ask USDA, GSA
Summary
GSA, both internally and from an acquisition perceptive, has made cloud services a focus since it bucked the trend and moved to Google for office productivity tools and launched an email-as-a-service contract vehicle in 2011. “The USDA Cloud Working Group is an Office of the CIO and mission area collaboration effort to identify and document best practices and lessons learned regarding all aspects of cloud adoption, purchasing, implementation, management and impact on the USDA mission,” Washington said in an email to Federal News Network. “A USDA-wide cloud adoption and management vision along with its associated implementation strategies that advance mission delivery on behalf of every program throughout USDA,” Washington said. “The increased awareness and standardization elements should also have strong incremental benefits that enable continued security management and Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) score improvement as well.” Microsoft Federal’s Adams said while she is not specifically familiar with USDA’s working group effort, many agencies are trying to bring some sense of semblance into their cloud efforts. Part of the reason for that is we keep hearing agencies have to go to multiple places to buy cloud.” What GSA and USDA’s initiatives continue to demonstrate is that there is no one approach to managing cloud services.