USDA Goes to the Microsoft Cloud

The Agriculture Department just one-upped the General Services Administration: USDA announced the morning that it has become the first Cabinet-level agency to move e-mail and other applications to the cloud. According to a Microsoft release, the department will move 120,000 employees from an internal messaging and collaboration to Microsoft's BPOS-Federal cloud-based solution over the next month.

"Through the power of the cloud, USDA personnel will have better access to information and improved data sharing capabilities, all while reducing computing costs and building on existing investments," the company said.

We'll have more details on this soon.