Thursday, February 9, 2012

GSA, OMB To Unveil Cloud Computing Site

September 14, 2009

cloudcomputing.jpgThe General Services Administration and White House Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday will unveil a federal cloud computing initiative, the centerpiece of which will be a new Web site, Apps.gov -- an online storefront for agencies to acquire and purchase cloud computing services in an efficient, effective way. Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, GSA CIO Casey Coleman, and GSA Associate Administrator David McClure will brief reporters on the project during an afternoon teleconference.

Coleman spoke at an August conference about the potential of scalable and virtualized resources on the heels of a solicitation for cloud storage, Web hosting and virtual machine services. During her speech, she said agility is first and foremost about giving organizations the ability to rapidly and inexpensively change resources. Cost is greatly reduced since capital expenditures for IT are converted to operational expenses and, since systems are accessed using a Web browser, resources can be used anywhere, she said.

Furthermore, cloud computing improves reliability and security and is environmentally sensitive and energy efficient, Coleman said in prepared remarks at a business conference focused on customer relationship management. "The days of developing massive agency-focused IT infrastructure projects are long gone," she said. "We can try new things, and if they work, great. If not, lessons are learned. If there's an advantage to doing this in a government environment, it's that we are mission driven, not profit driven."

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Juliana Gruenwald

Tech Writer

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Juliana Gruenwald has been covering tech and telecom issues for more than a decade for National Journal, Interactive Week, BNA and Congressional Quarterly. This is her second stint with National Journal. She was recruited by NJ in 1998 to help launch its first tech policy publication, Technology Daily. She left in 2000 to cover international tech and telecom issues for Ziff Davis Media's Interactive Week magazine. She started her career at United Press International as the wire service's first Helen Thomas Intern. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. A Minneapolis native, she misses the lakes but not the cold.


Josh Smith

Tech Reporter

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Josh Smith covers technology policy as a staff reporter for National Journal. He previously interned at National Journal Daily, a Senate press office, and the Deseret News in Salt Lake City where he covered the state legislature, courts, and crime. In 2009 he graduated with honors from Southern Utah University after managing an award-winning student newspaper as editor-in-chief. Josh has received state, regional and national awards for his political and policy reporting, including first place in CapitolBeat’s 2009 Best of Statehouse Reporting college competition. A native of drop-dead-gorgeous Utah, Josh lives in Virginia with his wife, Amber.