Governments to Cloud Market: We’re Coming

Call it G.I. Cloud.

A TechNavio report reveals that the government cloud computing market will increase by an average annual rate of 6.2 percent through 2016, as governments begin moving their data onto the cloud.

The report highlighted governments’ need to reduce costs, noting it is a major driver behind the transition to efficient cloud-based technologies, according to an article on BusinessAdministrationInformation.com. But, TechNavio added, in some cases concerns about the data’s security are preventing governments from moving more quickly into the space.

But that is a big change from previous surveys, when security was a dominant roadblock. Now, industries also list concerns about technological problems with integration, or whether cloud services will deliver their promised efficiencies.

For U.S. state and local government, the No. 1 use for cloud services is storage, with nearly 20 percent of surveyed organizations primarily using the cloud to hold data — businesses and educational organizations reported storage as their No. 1, as well. Federal government groups, by contrast, primarily used it for conferencing and collaborating.

Cloud Concerns? Insure It

Lloyds of London had no hang ups over insuring ’40s pin-up girl Betty Grable’s legs for a million bucks each.

Fast forward nearly 70 years, and you can come across an equally surprising asset that’s insured: your cloud service provider. A new cloud computing insurance hopes to solve cloud liability concerns for service providers.

The MSPAlliance in partnership with Lockton Affinity announced the availability of a new Cloud and Managed Services Insurance. The cyber insurance is aimed at service providers who require comprehensive protection, according to an article on Forbes.com.

“These policies are uniquely created for cloud and managed service providers and can provide tremendous risk mitigation for both the provider and their customers,” said Bill Klein, director of Insurance Services for MSPAlliance.

MSPAlliance isn’t the first to offer so called Cloud insurance. Up-start cloudinsure offers what it describes as a “Cloud insurance platform designed to specifically address emerging liabilities within the cloud environment. Through our innovative underwriting models and proprietary analytics, we bring insurance solutions that move at the pace of cloud technology.”

 Ask Not What Cloud Can Do For You

Who said bureaucracies, including large swaths of the U.S. government, are too big and too slow-footed to benefit from the latest technology?

When it comes to cloud computing, the U.S. government, believe it or not, is on the forefront—particularly when it comes to cloud-based email. The US Army, EPA, GSA, Interior, Labor and the USDA are all among the government organizations moving email to the cloud under President Obama’s “cloud first” policy, according to an article on CloudComputingNews.net.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs is showing initial caution by starting out with a relatively small, 15,000-mailbox pilot to make sure it’s properly addressing all the security, compliance, governance and cost-savings concerns that are all part and parcel of the email-in-the-cloud package.

Then, the VA will up the roll-out to 600,000 mailboxes, to save what it hopes will amount to about $85 million in maintenance fees, support staff and aging hardware it will no longer need.

Patrick Burke is a writer and editor based in the greater New York area and occasionally blogs for Rackspace Hosting