Government Moves Toward Cloud Computing 'Perfect Storm'

As FedRAMP initiative ramps up, cloud service providers can look forward to clearer guidance from federal clients and a robust market as administration tech chiefs press on toward a 'Perfect Storm' in cloud computing.

Amid mounting budget pressures and a maturing set of technologies, the federal government is poised for the rapid adoption of cloud computing services over the next several years, according to one of the senior agency leaders helping craft a government-wide cloud strategy.

While federal tech chiefs have long envisioned an environment in which agency storage and applications are hosted and shared throughout the government, the policy reforms required for such a shift, though still very much a work in progress, have recently come into focus and figure to precipitate a major migration to the cloud over the next several years, said David McClure, the associate administrator of the General Services Administration's Office Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies...