Money Matters, Simplified.
Government undetakes cloud computing service
by Jaspreet Virk - September 16, 2009 - comments
Speaking about the initiative, Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra said, “Like a utility such as electricity or water, cloud computing allows users to consume only what they need, to grow or shrink their use as their needs change, and to pay only for what they actually use"
New York, September 16 -- Pushing forward its new cloud computing initiative, the White House on Tuesday unveiled a new Web site called Apps.gov to facilitate buying of online apps and basic computing services by federal agencies.
Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra unveiled the service at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field.
Speaking about the initiative, Kundra said, “Like a utility such as electricity or water, cloud computing allows users to consume only what they need, to grow or shrink their use as their needs change, and to pay only for what they actually use."
The service will be run by U.S. General Services Administration and will offer online applications from Salesforce.com and Google.
IT services like storage, Web hosting and virtual machines will be added to cloud computing over a period of time.
Cloud computing to cut costs
Cloud computing, a process of storing data on third-party equipment on remote server instead of home servers, is likely to save a lot of money.
Kundra said that U.S. Transport Safety Administration spends $600,000 to create a blog, while one can open a Blogger account for free.
"Why should the government pay for and build infrastructure that is available for free?" he said. "In these tough economic times, the federal government must buy smarter."
Kundra further added that with greater access to IT solutions, government can save on time and money, and focus attention on using applications to achieve their goals. Cloud computing is expected to narrow down the government's annual $75 billion IT spending and simplify acquisition, budgeting, policy planning, etc.
Transferring information to private parties could raise privacy issues. On this, Kundra said that government’s sensitive and secret data will be managed through a government-operated platform.
Initiative appreciated
The initiative has been lauded by Web services vendors. Craigslist founder Craig Newmark appreciated the service.
Google Enterprise product management director, Matthew Glotzbach, stated in a blog posting, “Everyone benefits from cloud computing, though few stand to benefit more than the government."
The service will help government at all levels; to boost productivity, cut costs, promote efficiency, and become more open and transparent with citizens, added Glotzbach.