Page 74 - FCW, November/December 2019

FCWQ&A
How SBA approaches
modernization
Small Business Administration CTO Sanjay Gupta discusses the mindset his agency brings to cloud, security and mobility
BY TERRI J. HUCK
SBA has been a leader in
cloud adoption.Why is the technology such an essential element of IT modernization, and how can agencies be more strategic about incorporating cloud into those efforts? Increasingly, most mission-impacting initiatives today have an underlying technology component that enables mission goals and outcomes. The ability of an agency to rapidly deliver on its mission is largely determined by the agency’s technology founda- tion. A modern, agile and secure technology foundation is an essen- tial element for mission delivery.
In early 2017, Small Business Administration CIO Maria Roat initiated the SBA Cloud — one of the key transformative projects to build the technology foundation to facilitate rapid mission delivery for SBA. By using an agile approach, we completed the design, architecture, migration plan and authority to oper- ate for the SBA Cloud in 82 calendar days.
The SBA Cloud became instru- mental in providing rapid turn- around times to support SBA’s mission of disaster response when hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria hit in fall 2017. The disaster assis- tance team more than quadrupled
in a span of a couple months and therefore needed the technology infrastructure to rapidly scale up proportionately. The SBA Cloud provided the ability to rapidly scale up and then scale down when the disaster assistance demand receded.
SBA’s vision of IT modernization utilizes the cloud as a key foun- dational element. Cloud is not the destination but a means to enable rapid prototyping and innovation for mission delivery. Cloud is an essential foundational element for IT modernization that helps acceler- ate mission delivery and changes the financial model to a consump- tion-based, variable-cost, operating expense-type cost structure from
a fixed-cost, capital-expense cost structure while providing flexibility.
In SBA’s cloud journey, what new security challenges have arisen and how has the agency addressed them? In addition, how is SBA supporting the demands of an increasingly mobile workforce without sacrificing security?
As SBA embarked on its cloud journey, the team briefly consid- ered developing a separate security approach for the SBA Cloud. While there are nuances with respect
to security in the cloud, the team determined that a singular, uniform and consistent security approach for all IT assets in SBA was paramount to ensuring a robust cybersecurity posture for SBA.
This approach challenged the prevailing norm wherein organiza- tions choose separate security mod- els for on-premises IT assets and cloud-based IT assets. Instead, SBA laid out a cybersecurity vision that utilizes a single approach to monitor and manage all SBA IT assets.
This vision was implemented
by deploying a set of cloud-based cybersecurity tools that provide a uniform and consistent way to moni- tor and manage all IT assets in SBA. It includes assets in the SBA Cloud, on-premises assets and mobile assets. Additionally, the coverage includes software-as-a-service offer- ings. In addition, these cloud-based tools leverage machine learning, artificial intelligence and automation to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of SBA’s cybersecurity program.
By using models such as condi- tional access control, SBA’s cyber- security program balances the business needs of an increasingly mobile workforce by providing them access to productivity tools and SBA
72 November/December 2019 FCW.COM