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GSA and DoD in particular are assembling a set of technical and acquisition tools to prepare agencies to adopt new cloud features and services. In an effort to increase agency cloud adoption, for example, GSA announced it is preparing ground- work for a cloud indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract designed to serve as a “one-stop shop and an improved way to buy cloud” system and services for federal agencies.
The timing seems right. GSA’s cloud infrastructure-as-a- service blanket purchase agreement has already expired, and its email-as-a-service BPA will expire in two years. This sets the stage for an omnibus-type contracting vehicle helping agencies avoid gaps in the provision of cloud services, including IaaS. This contract “will serve as a single procurement source for
all things cloud, with flexibility so as to incorporate valuable cloud services and technologies that emerge over its lifecycle,” says Mary Davie, GSA assistant commissioner of the Office of Integrated Technology Services in a blog post.
GSA also joined forces with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to vet the project. The two agencies have been able to identify more than 200 requirements and other desirable features that support DoD’s “rigorous security requirements and accommodate other buyers with similar needs.”
Cloud-accelerating program tools are also in the works. GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies (OCSIT) wants to expand its cloud efforts by creating an “IT portfolio of cloud products” that can help agencies in their transition to the cloud. In an RFI on the plan, GSA said agencies still face obstacles to moving to the cloud, “including a long procurement process, unclear budgets and no insight into current legacy systems.”
Agencies need a broad source of tools, platforms, and consulting help to do this right. “The OCSIT cloud portfolio
has the opportunity to shine the light on this path for an agency customer to have a direct journey to the cloud,” according to a statement in the RFI. “No matter where an agency is on their journey to the cloud, OCSIT wants to be able to deliver a product or service that will help an agency get to the cloud faster, with less confusion, and no errors along the way.”
To support developing a cloud portfolio, GSA has also undertaken a program—called “Cloud Special Item Number” (Cloud SIN)—to provide agencies with centralized access to cloud services through the federal government’s mammoth IT Schedule 70 acquisition contract. Using this tool, GSA customers can distinguish cloud services from non-cloud IT products and services in order to quickly arrive at the right solution.
“The goal of the Cloud SIN is to provide customers centralized, streamlined access to cloud computing services through IT Schedule 70 to meet their eligible government, state, and local needs,” according to the Cloud Computer Program Management Office. That office has managed more than $450 million for dozens of cloud acquisition awards, either directly through its own cloud acquisition tools or by helping agencies direct their cloud orders to GSA IT Schedule 70 alone.
Besides contracting and consulting support from GSA, government technology policymakers also moved early this year to strengthen the security of agency cloud investments. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is readying draft baseline standards and requirements for cloud systems that warrant the highest levels of government information security, such as law enforcement, personal health and national security-related data. Together, these new tools and policies should give agencies latitude
to deploy a range of cloud tools to support current business objectives and requirements.
SPONSORED CONTENT
The CIA announces plans to transition IT services to commercial cloud infrastructure.
FEBRUARY 2013
DISA launches milCloud, a set of cloud services tailored to DoD customers.
MARCH 2014
NIST publishes the U.S. Government Cloud Computing Technology Roadmap.
OCTOBER 2014
The FedRAMP office releases a draft of a high impact baseline.
JANUARY 2015
GSA adds a Cloud Special Item Number to IT Schedule 70.
APRIL 2015
GSA announces plans to develop a government- wide IDIQ contract for cloud services.
JANUARY 2016
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