Page 13 - FCW, August 2021

management while 45% have no such strategies. In addition, security was the biggest challenge to managing a cloud ecosystem, with 74% of respondents citing it. Integrating different products and services came in second at 61%, and a lack of skilled employees rounded out the top three at 50% of respondents.
Efforts are under way to ease these pain points. For example, the Federal Risk
and Authorization Management Program continues to look for ways to accelerate
the process for cloud providers to obtain authorities to operate and make it easier for agencies to reuse ATOs granted by other agencies. In addition, the Cloud Smart Strategy seeks a larger role for FedRAMP in helping agencies make informed decisions about the cloud solutions they deploy.
The strategy acknowledges that cloud adoption is about more than the technology, stating: “Agencies are also encouraged to take a multidisciplinary approach to hiring and training their workforce, as well as provide community spaces where digital services experts, information security professionals, procurement specialists, and others with a mutual interest in effective, secure cloud adoption can collaborate on current challenges and opportunities in the cloud computing space.”
A foundation for innovation
President Joe Biden’s Executive Order
on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, released in May, includes an emphasis on bolstering cloud security. “The federal government must bring to bear the full scope of its authorities and resources to protect and secure its computer systems, whether they are cloud-based, on-premises or hybrid,” it states. The executive order
encourages cloud service providers to share their unique insights into the risks facing federal information systems and calls on agencies
to adopt zero trust security architectures and accelerate the move to secure cloud services.
The day after the executive order was issued, the General Services Administration released a request for information seeking industry feedback on the development of a governmentwide blanket purchase agreement for commercial software- as-a-service, platform-as-a-service and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions. According to GSA’s announcement, “The pandemic
MULTI-CLOUD
by the numbers
90%
Global enterprises that will rely on a mix of legacy platforms, private clouds and multiple public clouds by 2022
$6.6 billion
Amount federal agencies spent on cloud computing in fiscal 2020, up from $6.1 billion in fiscal 2019
55%
FCW survey respondents who said their agencies have comprehensive strategies for managing multi-cloud ecosystems
29%
FCW survey respondents who said their agencies use only one cloud provider
Sources: Bloomberg Government, FCW, IDC
manage workloads, data and apps. It also gives them the necessary visibility to institute a risk-based approach to security that incorporates zero trust, automation and policy enforcement across cloud environments. With the right cloud ecosystem, agencies can achieve mission success in other key areas, including employee engagement, customer experience and IT modernization.
Cloud technology has become indispensable for government IT operations and a foundation for innovation. “To realize the full benefit of cloud technology, agencies must cultivate an organizational mindset of constant improvement and learning,” the Cloud Smart Strategy states. “Modernization is not a commitment that is sustained solely by interventions once every decade. Rather, modernization is a constant state of change and part of the day-to-day business of technology at every agency.”
has pushed agencies to innovate
and expand their digital and
virtual environments. More specifically, GSA observes agencies moving toward more cloud-based solutions to make their \[agencies\] more agile and telework-friendly, reduce their reliance on on-premise/
legacy systems, and scale their operational capacity.”
Cloud changes are also happening at the state and local level. In a recent MeriTalk survey, 83% of state and local IT managers said the pandemic amplified the importance of migrating to a hybrid cloud environment, with 66% saying the pandemic accelerated adoption by a year or more. However,
only 29% said their agencies’ hybrid cloud strategies have kept pace with accelerated adoption.
As the options for cloud platforms and services expand, it’s crucial for agencies to take a more strategic approach to building and managing their multi-cloud environments. A successful strategy enables agencies to improve how they
SPONSORED CONTENT S-11