White House wants cloud computing

Cloud computing will play a major role in modernizing the federal government’s technology infrastructure, according to a White House document published today with the administration's 2010 budget request.

White House officials want agencies to launch pilot projects that identify common services and solutions and that focus on cloud computing, according to the “Analytical Perspectives” document released with the budget request.

Cloud computing refers to an arrangement in which an organization pays a service provider to deliver applications, computing power and storage via the Web. Under the White House’s plan, several agencies could access a common application from the cloud.

Cloud computing pilot projects would address the risks and new policies required to implement the emerging technology, the document states. Securing a traditional data center in the walls of an agency is different than securing a cloud computing network where computer servers are often owned and operated by a third party, it said.

“The federal community will need to actively put in place new security measures which will allow dynamic application use and information-sharing to be implemented in a secure fashion,” according to the budget document.

One pilot project would be for end-user communications and computing and would examine how to provide secure provisioning, support and operation of end-user applications across a spectrum of devices. It would also address the needs of teleworking and a mobile workforce.

Another pilot project would look at enterprise software as a service, according to the document. The project may examine how to deliver a financial management applications, for example, to several agencies via the cloud. The document does not say when these projects would begin.

Moving to cloud computing would require an initial investment but should result in savings in the future, according to the document.

“Expected savings in the out years, as more agencies reduce their costs of hosting system in their own data centers, should be many times the original investment,” the document states.