Google Unveils Apps Suite For Government
July 27, 2010
| 10:03 AM
Google on Monday announced a new version of Google Apps, its Web-based competitor to Microsoft's Office business suite, that is tailored to federal agency customers and meets the government's security and cloud computing standards, Nextgov.com reported.
Currently, more than a dozen federal agencies already use the enterprise edition of Google Apps for routine business tasks, such as e-mail, word processing and calendars.
The new edition, Google Apps for Government, is the first package of cloud tools to receive federal security certification, according to company officials.
Cloud computing is a method of paying for and accessing information technology on-demand and online through a third party, instead of via agency servers. To reduce IT costs and greenhouse gas emissions, the White House has been pushing federal agencies to consider replacing more expensive in-house servers and software licenses with cloud computing hardware and software.
But perhaps the biggest obstacle to transitioning to the cloud has been concerns about the security of hosting agency data in a shared online environment.
The General Services Administration has reviewed Google's new product and confirmed that it complies with controls stipulated under the 2002 Federal Information Security Information Act, company officials said. They added FISMA approval will make it easier for agencies to compare Google Apps' security features with those of their existing systems. Federal employee e-mail and calendar services will be hosted separately from Google's other business-class services in a U.S. location. To read more, click here.
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