Labor Department plans move to the cloud

The Labor Department plans to move its email and digital collaboration tools to the cloud, according to a solicitation released Wednesday.

The department also is seeking Web-based e-discovery, records management and software-as-a-service tools -- programs that are stored in a vendor’s cloud rather than on an agency’s own servers.

Labor’s new email system would combine separate legacy systems from the department’s nine major divisions, according to the request for proposal. The resulting email system would be split into three domains, one for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, another for the Office of Inspector General and a third for the remainder of the agency.

Federal technology officials expect to save $5 billion by moving about one-fourth of the government’s information technology stock to the cloud

Storing services in an off-site computer bank typically is cheaper than storing them in on-site data centers because clouds can pack computer programs more tightly and customers pay for storage space and energy as they do utilities -- paying only for what they use. This allows agencies to use more storage some months and less storage other months.

Several other agencies already have switched to cloud email systems, including the Agriculture Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the General Services Administration.

Labor issued a presolicitation notice about the cloud services Aug. 2.

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