Data ownership in the cloud: Get it in writing
February 22, 2011
Moving applications to a cloud computing provider does not mean giving up control of the data — as long as agencies get a guarantee in writing, according to a panel of CIOs representing defense and civilian agencies.
For example, agency managers moving to the cloud have to stipulate upfront in their contracts that ownership of data must remain with the agency, agency CIOs engaged in cloud implementation told attendees at the recent Cloud/Gov 2011 conference.
The CIOs spoke about acquisition, cloud governance, data ownership, return on investment and workforce issues related to the cloud Feb. 17 at the conference held by the Software Information and Industry Association and the consulting firm Input in Washington, D.C.
The Veterans Affairs Administration, for example, has developed a private cloud that runs in a commercial provider’s facility.
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“We made sure that when the contract was put in place that our folks understood and the provider understood that we are not giving the data and business rules away,” said Stephen Warren, VA’s deputy CIO.
If an agency is in a situation in which its contract is about to expire and the agency managers want to move to another service provider, they’ve got a problem if someone else owns their business rules. “Now you are not only paying to get out, you’re also paying to get in,” Warren said. The VA makes sure that it owns data that is core to VA’s mission of providing service to veterans, he said.
“We have 25 applications at [the Securities and Exchange Commission] in the cloud,” said SEC CIO Thomas Bayer. “All of our vendor contracts [stipulate] we own the data, workflow and IT associated with the management of those systems. We are moving more into the cloud and that is a prerequisite,” Bayer said.
“I think part of the message to the business community is there is no long-term lock-in based on the cloud," VA’s Warren said. “We still run across some folks who don’t get that,” he said. “There isn’t a guarantee of 50 years of revenue."