According to a Forrester research study, 53% of employees are already using some form of consumer technology to get their work done. The question that arises is: how can federal agencies encourage better collaboration while improving productivity and reducing costs?

A critical factor in the success of any defense mission is the ability to collaborate in real-time between distributed departments, units and deployed personnel. However, legacy technologies haven’t always made this an easy feat. Today, Google is revolutionizing the way warfighters and civilian personnel communicate and collaborate – in the office and in the field – to help improve efficiency and productivity across the Department.

Improving efficiency and innovating are ongoing missions for the U.S. Army, the largest and oldest branch of the U.S. military. Bringing modern commercial cloud capabilities such as Google Apps helps the Army to reduce IT costs, while giving troops access to always up to date, web tools for productivity, collaboration, and communication.

Earlier this summer, the DLT Cloud Advisory Group surveyed our public sector customers to find out where they stood in their adoption of cloud technology. It was no surprise that information security and data privacy continued to top the list as key obstacles holding them back from their migrations. Traditional IT models allowed CIOs and managers to physically see where their data was being stored; moving to the cloud has raised questions about who controls what, especially in terms of data protection.

Cloud computing is a global phenomenon. Its promise of rapid procurement of IT services, scaled up and down as necessary, results in the perfect mix for public sector CIOs and program managers looking to save money and improve service delivery. But what about the procurement process for these sought after cloud services?

The wait is over! Google and DLT Solutions are proud to introduce Emergency Response Tools for Govies – a free eBook that explores how Google’s information management and collaboration tools help emergency management teams achieve unparalleled situational awareness before, during, and after a crisis.

To answer our cloud questions, we turned to our customers in the Department of Defense, federal civilian government, and state and local government. We asked them about their current IT initiatives, and the key drivers and challenges their agencies face when moving to the cloud. Take a look at our infographic to see what we discovered!

John Nicholson's is the President of the Washington D.C. Metro Chapter of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and was a keynote speaker during the GovDefenders Cybersecurity Virtual Event. We've just posted his video: Security & Legal Issues in Cloud Adoption.

Chances are that your IT shop (and most others) faces accusations every day. IT has its own set of goals and concerns that must come first. When these facts come into conflict with your user’s needs or wants, then something has got to give.

IT is currently facing two dilemmas. The first is many want their private cloud architecture to work with their existing data center. Secondly, IT professionals are looking to build private clouds that are open to other clouds but also equipped to run existing in-house systems and applications. So you may be asking yourself, “Why should I build a private cloud?”