|
Cloud benefits for Government
How can the cloud help you transform government? Consider the following:
- Citizen services. Drive innovation with data services in the cloud that citizens can reuse. Offer your own data mashups on a portal.
- Infrastructure. Get the IT resources you need, only when you need them. Seek a vendor that can manage your needs with a focus on security and predictability. And pay only for what you use. Agencies can reduce the need to build out and manage data centers, and IT can consolidate budget and facilities due to hardware efficiencies.
- Flexibility. Adjust cloud-based resources up and down to meet real-time needs, or offload onsite data to the cloud as needed to improve operational efficiencies. And since the cloud is Internet-based, you can access these resources from anywhere, supporting remote work and continuity of operations.
- Collaboration. The ability to more effectively communicate and collaborate has been touted for government agencies as one of the biggest benefits of adopting the cloud model. In many cases, the spark to use cloud computing will come from rank-and-file employees themselves seeking to have access at work to the cloud services that they use in their personal lives. With both the application and the data stored in the cloud, it becomes easy for multiple users—located anywhere in the world—to work together on the same project.
- Disaster recovery / continuity of operations. With centralized data storage, management, and backups, data recovery in response to local business disruptions can be faster and easier.
- Applications and content. Rather than waiting in the software procurement line, get hosted software, datasets, and services as they are released so you can focus your mission.
- Policies and regulations. Proceed carefully, but note how cloud computing can help you meet compliance requirements.
- Creative IT. Since cloud services can be centrally managed, IT workers are freed from a “keep-the-lights-on” approach, providing more time to foster creative problem-solving.
|
|
Cloud reality check
With cloud computing comes hype. What can you expect?
|
|
"It’s cheaper"
The truth is that you need to balance the up-front savings with ongoing subscription costs to determine actual savings. The pay-as-you-go approach lets you balance your IT budget with operational expense spending instead of capital expenses. So you can expect to reduce costs associated with server hardware, support and deployment, and power consumption.
|
|
"It’s faster"
Data-intensive computing in the cloud can be six times faster than in isolated data centers. i You can deploy applications more quickly, too, compared to traditional means. And it’s certainly fast to procure on-demand services—just see Apps.gov for an example. |
|
"It’s greener"
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that U.S. data centers consumed about 1.5 percent of all U.S. electricity use, and current projections show worldwide carbon emissions from data centers will quadruple by 2020.ii Consolidating and sharing resources can curb the waste of data center sprawl and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So yes, the cloud can have a green lining.
|
|
Choose who is in your cloud
In the cloud, you share computing power with others. Just who that is depends on the cloud’s deployment model. The right model for you is the one that meets your data classification, security, privacy, and business requirements.
|
|
Public cloud
A cloud infrastructure shared by the general public or industry, typically owned and managed by an organization that sells cloud services.
Community cloud
A cloud infrastructure shared exclusively by certain groups, such as civil agencies or others with like missions, and managed by the group or a third party. It can be hosted on or off premises.
Private cloud
Cloud resources confined inside a firewall with private control over the cloud infrastructure. Some private enterprises run their data centers as a private cloud. In 2009, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Defense brought theirs online.iii
Hybrid cloud
An approach that uses a public cloud for some services, such as general business needs, but uses a private data center for others, such as storage of sensitive data that must comply with federal mandates.
Government cloud
Although you may have heard the term, there is no specific certification that designates a “government cloud” today.
|
| Entering the cloud
Get the basic information that agencies need to consider for cloud computing. |
| Government benefits in the cloud
Learn how agencies can benefit from moving into the cloud. |
| Security in the cloud
Explore security issues around cloud computing and ways to avert them. |
| SaaS
Deliver applications and services to users—regardless of their location—with Software as a Service (SaaS). |
|
|
| PaaS
Benefit from a cloud operating environment where you don’t have to manage the infrastructure, with Platform as a Service (PaaS). |
| IaaS
Rent data center capacity as needed, rather than owning and running hardware, with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). |
| Private cloud
Discover if a private cloud—with dedicated resources, additional control, and customization—is right for you. |
|
|