ESRI, DISA, acquisitions and the cloud

ESRI cloud gets the FedRAMP nod

Geospatial computing company ESRI's managed cloud service has been approved for agency use at the "moderate level" by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.

The ESRI cloud is the first FedRAMP-approved service to be designed around a geographic information system (GIS) platform. It supports many of the company's popular mapping tools, including ArcGIS.

ESRI also announced the creation of an open data discovery site that provides one-stop access to public federal, state, and local datasets that were built on the ArcGIS platform.

Industry, DOD learning by doing from DISA cloud pilot

A Defense Information System Agency pilot of cloud access points (CAPs) is helping DOD mission owners and cloud service providers learn the fundamentals of operating and communicating in the cloud environment, according to a DISA official.

CAPs are part of the security apparatus that connects DOD information networks to the commercial cloud, and are a focal point for defense officials trying to expand DOD’s use of the commercial cloud.

The access points help “protect the rest of DOD from any malicious software that may find itself residing in our missions, in the commercial service provider,” Peter Dinsmore, DISA’s risk technology executive, told reporters Feb. 9.

Acting DOD CIO Terry Halvorsen said Jan. 29 that he expects the department to formally stand up the CAPs within 90 days.

Accenture acquires Agilex

Accenture Federal Services plans to acquire Agilex, "in a move that adds more capabilities in analytics, cloud and mobility," Washington Technology reports. The move also reflects the tradition established by Agilex's late founder, Bob LaRose: "build a strong company, find a good buyer and share the rewards."