Technically Speaking

For many federal agencies, the decision to deploy public or private clouds has come down to this: they’re going with both. They’re embracing hybrid clouds. It’s really no surprise given that federal IT is balancing the need for greater agility, flexibility, and innovation, with strict security control. Hybrid clouds provide the perfect alternative, because they allow agencies to become more nimble and efficient while still maintaining control.

Data breaches seem to be becoming a fact for government business. As more devastating insights are revealed about the attack on OPM last year, the realities of the attackers capabilities are becoming more evident. According to a 2015 data breach investigations report by Verizon: • 60% of attackers are able to compromise an organization within minutes.

Today, cybersecurity threats are growing in volume, sophistication, and persistence. That’s according to the findings of Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report which draws on threat data from its Global Intelligence Network and monitoring activity in over 157 countries.

Most agencies aren’t interested in competing in the Amazing Race to the cloud, but there’s no doubt that the government is starting to embrace the cloud. Drivers include the cost savings and the increased agility that cloud computing can provide. However, this movement towards the cloud frequently leaves today’s IT professionals tasked with managing applications in a challenging environment: the hybrid data center.

As we blogged recently, Autodesk has just announced the release of the latest version of InfraWorks 360 its popular preliminary design software that serves as a great asset to transportation infrastructure and civil engineers.

DevOps is a powerful IT services management approach for the public sector. Implemented strategically, DevOps can help speed and efficiency in developing IT. But where should agencies start? Instead of simply throwing DevOps as a new system at your agency and hoping for the best, different methods need to be used to best optimize workflows and impact.