FedRAMP approves two more cloud vendors: On June 6th, GSA announced that two more cloud service providers, HP and Lockheed Martin, had received their provision authorization through the FedRAMP program. These two approvals bring the total number of FedRAMP approved CSPs to five and marks the second time in just over two weeks that FedRAMP approvals were issued, with Amazon gaining approval via the agency (HHS) ATO process on May 21st. Learn more at GSA.gov.
Secret Service wants an app store: The Secret Service released an RFI on May 29th requesting information supporting the acquisition of services and supplies to provide Mobile Device Management (MDM) / Mobile Application Store (MAS) solutions. The mobile app store capability would securely support a range of mobile operating systems for the service. The RFI says the Secret Service has more than 12,000 mobile devices, running on a variety of operating systems including Blackberry OS, Android iOS, and Windows. In assessing the solutions the service is looking for options that have enterprise level controls to support mission requirements and assist in the overall development of the agency’s mobile strategy. Responses are due June 29th. See the RFI here
NRC getting ready to move to the cloud: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of developing a strategy to move some of its core IT operations to the cloud. NRC released a sources sought notice earlier this year and is currently reviewing those responses. It is expected that NRC will move forward with infrastructure as a service, hosting and other capabilities. With the sensitivity of much of NRC’s data, special attention is being paid to what can be effectively and securely hosted in the cloud. The move follows prior cloud implementations including moving NRC’s core financial system to the cloud. Expect to see more and potentially a solicitation later this summer. Federal News Radio has more.
GSA to pilot cloud brokerage: GSA announced plans late last month to launch a cloud broker pilot by fall 2013. DHS is one of two agencies committed to helping GSA test the model, with the second participating agency remaining unnamed. All in all 15 agencies are part of the cloud broker discussion according to GSA. GSA announced that it plans to award one contract for the pilot program and then reevaluate at the end of the year. SIIA and many other organizations have expressed some reservations about the cloud broker model, in large part because GSA has yet to define the services the cloud broker will provide in the federal market. No additional detail was provided when GSA made the announcement. See Federal Times FedBlog for additional information.
Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG. Sign up for the Public Sector Innovation Roundup email newsletter for weekly updates.