Making it Happen: Responding to Federal Initiatives to Speed and Simplify Cloud Adoption

This issue brief is intended for federal executives who seek to use cloud IT infrastructure services (such as web hosting) to better achieve agency mission and business goals while reducing spend. It reviews the context for federal cloud computing acquisition decisions by describing relevant government-wide IT policies, programs and contract vehicles, and provides five key considerations for acquiring cloud services to meet federal requirements. The federal government spends more than $20 billion each year on IT infrastructure. It operates and maintains more than 2,100 data centers with server utilization rates as low as 7 percent. These and other compelling facts are fueling aggressive reforms in how the federal government purchases and uses IT.