DOD Information Technology Evolves Toward Cloud Computing

Grazed from Defense.gov. Author: Claudette Roulo.

The Defense Department’s information technology infrastructure is on a journey of consolidation, standardization, security and access, the Defense Department’s principal deputy chief information officer told attendees at a cloud computing panel discussion today. The department is reducing the number of data centers from about 1,500 to “a number far below that,” Robert J. Carey said, and is implementing a coherent and consistent architecture across thousands of computing environments.

This process is taking place in part because of the current era of fiscal austerity, but also because it makes sense when it comes to securing data within the network, Carey said. In addition, DOD, along with much of industry, is shifting toward a cloud computing posture: the collection of data and use of related computing services via remote servers accessed through the Internet. Cloud computing isn’t without its risks, Carey said, but the department is moving the paradigm of security from the infrastructure to the data layer. This includes continuous monitoring and cryptography, he added…

Concentrating on securing data, rather than an entire network, is “a big shift for a big engine like DOD,” Carey said. As the department implements the joint information environment and delivers a consistent computing architecture — which Carey noted the department does not yet have — security becomes the discriminating factor, he said. “The access, the cost — all those facets of the efficiency of cloud computing — if it isn’t secure enough, it will not serve us well,” he added…

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