This paper examines the 25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology (Kundra, 2010), which establishes a "Cloud First" policy for the U.S. federal government. Despite spending $600 billion on IT over a decade with limited productivity gains, the government committed to accelerating cloud adoption to improve efficiency, reduce data centers, and enable better portfolio and long-term planning. The paper analyzes each major goal of the plan — including efficiency gains through shared solutions, consolidation of at least 800 data centers by 2015, phased migration of services to the cloud, and improved project management — while also addressing the security concerns and logistical challenges inherent in transitioning a large, multi-agency government to cloud-based infrastructure.
Cloud computing is growing rapidly in relevance, and it is easy to see how this kind of computing can benefit all types of organizations. Because of its value, the federal government is considering moving much of its information technology workload to the "cloud" — that is, storing information in a way that makes access faster and easier for authorized parties. This could improve efficiency and reduce the need for dedicated data centers, but the transition is not without its concerns and difficulties.
The 25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology (Kundra, 2010) establishes a "Cloud First" policy to accelerate and standardize the adoption of cloud computing solutions across the U.S. federal government. This paper analyzes that plan in order to better understand what cloud computing can offer the government, and what concerns may arise from moving potentially vital and sensitive information away from current data servers and into the cloud.
Even though information technology (IT) has significantly increased productivity and efficiency in the private sector, the federal government has not seen the same results, despite spending $600 billion over ten years (Kundra, 2010). IT projects are often over budget and behind schedule, even as the government has focused on adopting best practices. Obstacles consistently hinder what should and can be done (Kundra, 2010). To create the action plan, Kundra (2010) worked with academics, industry experts, and other stakeholders. Detailed input and recommendations were gathered from all participants, and that information was used to develop the 25-point action plan. These points will not resolve every issue, but they will help address the most pressing challenges the government faces.
The 25-point plan is specifically designed to provide the federal government with the following:
Each of these areas must be examined to better understand what the plan offers and the differences it will make in how the federal government handles its computing needs.
To gain efficiency, the mindset of the federal government must shift away from building custom systems (Kundra, 2010). Custom solutions are appealing, but they take considerable time and cost more money. Because of this, shared solutions and lightweight technologies are what should be adopted instead (Kundra, 2010). By embracing shared options, the government will be better positioned to focus on necessary changes rather than spending excessive time and resources on customization that is often unnecessary.
There are so many options available in the cloud computing sector today that customization is rarely required — and this holds true even for the government. Available options can generally be utilized without bespoke development, despite the fact that government demands differ from those of the private sector (Kundra, 2010). Prioritizing shared solutions over custom systems will allow the government to deploy technology more quickly and at lower cost, directly addressing the inefficiencies that have plagued federal IT spending for years.
The reduction of data centers is another key element of the plan. Significant savings are possible through consolidation, and over five years this could mean a 50% reduction in federal IT-related costs. When agencies focus on reducing their data centers, the expense of conducting business is substantially lowered, freeing resources for other priorities. By 2015, the plan calls for consolidating at least 800 data centers (Kundra, 2010). Data assets must first be inventoried, and then consolidation plans need to be implemented and integrated into agency budgets.
Reducing overall technology costs through the cloud must be done carefully. Simply migrating data to the cloud is not inherently safe, and given the sensitivity of government information, thorough planning is required to ensure that everything is properly protected (Kundra, 2010).
Data center managers will lead consolidation efforts, and a task force will be established to ensure that all aspects are addressed appropriately. A government-wide marketplace for data center capacity will be developed within 18 months (Kundra, 2010). Agencies with excess capacity will be paired with agencies experiencing increased demand, allowing both to benefit and making the overall system more efficient. Efficiency will come in stages, allowing agencies an adjustment period that makes the transition more manageable. It is important to remember that the federal government consists of many distinct agencies rather than one large entity — each must be migrated to the cloud and then integrated with the others, a process that requires time and coordination.
"Moving three services to cloud within 18 months"
"Improving IT portfolio oversight and long-range planning"
"Balancing cloud efficiency gains against security risks"
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