‘Provider Sprawl’ Complicates Government Move to Cloud

Grazed from CIO. Author: Kenneth Corbin.

In spite of a nearly four-year-old mandate to prioritize cloud computing technologies within the federal government, that transition has been slow to take shape, with officials continuing to express concerns about how to manage cloud deployments and uncertainty about navigating the maze of commercial providers.

Gerald Chelak, director of the technical service division at the GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, says his agency is “100 percent committed to cloud” but admits that federal CIOs struggle to keep up with what he describes as “cloud service provider sprawl.” When asked in a recent panel discussion how IT workers can keep on top of an ever-expanding galaxy of service providers and products, Chelak quipped, “Spend weekends.”…

Despite Savings Potential, Federal Government Reluctant to Embrace Cloud

Chelak’s comments follow closely on a survey conducted by the government IT group MeriTalk. Despite the potential to achieve substantial cost savings through the cloud, more than half of federal agencies still aren’t considering cloud computing in the context of their overall technology strategy. In that survey, respondents estimate that they could lop 23 percent off of their agencies’ budget by moving to the cloud, amounting to an estimated $18.9 billion in potential annual savings…

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