Page 14 - FCW, Sept/Oct 2018

CLOUD COMPUTING PILLAR OF MODERN DEFENSE
DOD’S SECURE NETWORK IS COMPLICATED, WITH POINTS OF PRESENCE ALL OVER THE WORLD
much easier to implement secure solutions all the way up to the application level.
The cloud makes agencies more secure in other ways. Incidents of human error or misconfigured systems that can result in security breaches are less likely to happen in the cloud. And because agencies are no longer responsible for overseeing security standards, the risk of security inconsistencies declines.
Legacy networking can also be an impediment
to effective cloud adoption. That’s especially true
for Defense agencies; the DoD’s secure network is complicated, with points of presence all over the world, and unique needs for inspecting and blocking traffic. While agencies typically have local networks, they often rely on DISA or other Defense entities for “last mile” connectivity” to the cloud.
Because of these complexities, it is critical that cloud service providers work closely with the agency to understand requirements. With the right information and expertise, cloud service providers can recommend the optimal solution in a software- defined networking approach while adhering to security requirements.
THE PAYOFF
Agencies migrating to the cloud forecast greater efficiency, nimbleness and security.
Despite the challenges of modernizing IT through cloud computing, the effort can pay off in a big way.
“When you go to the cloud, you’ve modernized
your applications, [so] you can get data out of the application,” said DISA director Army Lt. Gen. Alan R. Lynn in a December symposium. “If you can take a lot of different applications and pull the data out of them, that’s powerful.”
One Defense agency has spent the past few years working on ways to use cloud services to modernize its mission, especially in the area of logistics. At the start of the project, the agency had more than 20 data centers, thousands of applications and a mix of legacy technology. It adopted a cloud-first approach that included modernizing applications, adopting Azure SQL for database services and shifting resources from Defense data centers to third-party data centers. Today, the agency can develop and disseminate new applications to users much more quickly. These apps can more easily migrate data across applications, allowing disparate groups to share information in new ways. As a result of this process, the agency has closed data centers more quickly than anticipated.
Elsewhere, another Defense agency is porting
all applications to the cloud — everything from mainframes to simple web apps and portals. This platform-as-a-service (PaaS)-first approach requires some unique and creative capabilities that include everything from .Net and Linux to open-source database services and data warehousing workloads. When finished, the agency expects significant cost savings and greater operational agility.
For the Defense Department, the process of moving functions and services to the cloud is clearly gaining momentum. Results will be apparent by next year, industry observers predict.
“The future is bright,” Strausbaugh said.
“There is a better partnership between government and industry than in the past, and the fact that
there is a willingness to look at the tactical edge illustrates that there is a level of trust developing between the Department and the cloud service provider community to not only operate at or above the level of security DoD expects, but to be able to deliver these critical services in a timely fashion to satisfy what is the most demanding customer anyone could ask for.”
PRODUCED BY: SPONSORED BY:
Staff Sgt. George Davis