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?

During this panel, experts compared and contrasted security risks, responsibilities, and approaches of on-premise IT and the shared security model of the public cloud. Conversations explored topics from FedRAMP, shared resources, continuous monitoring, data management, and automation.

The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Top Threats Working Group today released, The Notorious Nine: Cloud Computing Top Threats in 2013 - a revised report aimed to provide organizations with up-to-date, expert-informed understanding of cloud security threats in order to make educated risk-management decisions regarding cloud adoption strategies. Today's review: Data Breaches.

The DLT Cloud Advisory Group is focused on the emerging cloud landscape and proactively engages with the public sector community interested in cloud computing. We also actively contribute to establish standards through our participation in various Standards Development Organizations. Along with IEEE, NIST, and the CSA, we are active contributors to the Cloud Standards Customer Council (CSCC). Most recently, we have been assisting the CSCC Security Working Group’s research efforts for their recent whitepaper, “Security for Cloud Computing: 10 Steps to Ensure Success.”

With this post, I wrap up this three part series covering the findings of the GAO’s report on the overall progress of the Cloud First initiative. If you missed the first to parts, you can find them here and here respectively Quick recap: Earlier this month the Government Accountability Office released the results of their study on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Cloud First policy. The GAO assessed the progress selected agencies made and identified challenges they are facing in implementing the policy.

And just like that, Shamun is back with his expanded thoughts on the GAO’s Cloud First findings. If you missed yesterday’s review of the first of the seven findings, click here. Quick recap: Earlier this month the Government Accountability Office released the results of their study on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Cloud First policy. The GAO assessed the progress of selected agencies and identified challenges they are facing in implementing the policy. Shamun covers the next three findings in today’s post and will wrap up the series with the remaining for later this week.

Contrary to a sea of white papers and hours of slick video clips, the point when your back is against the wall is NOT the time to start looking to “the cloud” to save you. Instead, you need to start with a controllable situation of your own choosing that is as far from the fire, but as close to reality as possible. The IT battlefield is littered with mangled reputations and dead careers from those who picked up the shiny new technology-of-the-month and went chasing windmills, while hordes of very real IT problems overpowered them in a cruel game of attrition. Cloud technologies can help even the odds in many situations; however they very rarely can go straight into production without a proper evaluation. After all, you’re not just playing with technology here, but with workflow & mindset as well.

After months of researching, writing, and editing, the DLT Cloud Advisory Group recently completed its new reference eBook, Cloud Computing for Govies™!

Each cloud service and delivery model is designed to meet specific business requirements. Some offer greater cost savings, but may not provide the appropriate level of visibility and security. Others may offer higher levels of security, but at the expense of elasticity and costs. The key is to find the best fit for the business requirements and the IT service.

This week DLT Solutions announced the formation of the Cloud Advisory Group (CAG). This specialty-based knowledge practice is designed specifically to help our customers understand what cloud technologies are available and how best to leverage that technology. Cloud Computing is a hot topic today, and as such, there’s no shortage of people who are putting their own spin on it. Fortunately, the folks over at the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) have done a good job of providing the baseline by crafting a definition of cloud computing as well as version 1.0 of a cloud Reference Architecture. Fortunately, it looks like most of the journalists and consultants have adopted this definition, and this makes it easier for all of us to start the conversation.