US Military Will Embrace Utility-based Computing
The US Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) hosted its annual Forecast to Industry event in Baltimore, MD, on 17 November. Delegates learned that the Agency intends to bring a commercial cloud provider into support its milCloud 2.0 effort.
Although the programme is currently in source selection – which carries with it limitations on the information that can be released – it was obvious to the audience that this move had been agreed to only after verification of the fact that data will remain inviolate in DoD facilities, which is a core mission requirement for a number of critical mission sets.
milCloud is a high-security cloud services product portfolio managed by DISA. Recognising that DoD has data management in many areas, not the least of which is the acquisition and procurement process, the challenges of implementing something as wide ranging – and controversial – as milCloud should not be underestimated. But the benefits are obvious, even to antagonists: the adoption of a utility-based computing model for milCloud 2.0 will do much to improve the ease and efficiency with which DoD data services are managed – at the same time as preserving the required levels of security.
