U.S. Government Launches Cloud Computing Mall
| U.S. Federal Cloud Computing Market Forecast 2010 – 2015 provides agency-by-agency detailed forecasts for both defense and civilian sectors and cloud computing market segmentation by investment type. |
The White House has launched Apps.gov, the first cloud computing mall for government agencies. Vivek Kundra, the U.S. Chief Information Officer, described Apps.gov as following:
Apps.gov is an online storefront for federal agencies to quickly browse and purchase cloud-based IT services, for productivity, collaboration, and efficiency. Cloud computing is the next generation of IT in which data and applications will be housed centrally and accessible anywhere and anytime by a various devices (this is opposed to the current model where applications and most data is housed on individual devices). By consolidating available services, Apps.gov is a one-stop source for cloud services – an innovation that not only can change how IT operates, but also save taxpayer dollars in the process.
Currently Apps.gov offers four tiers of cloud computing services – business applications, productivity applications, cloud IT services and social media applications.
The government website Apps.gov offers cloud computing services just like a regular online service provider – flash your government issued purchase card and get a service. Business and Productivity applications (various cloud software as a service) and Cloud IT Infrastructure as a Service (cloud storage, hosting, and virtual machines) are offered as a monthly or even hourly use service.
The first government-wide cloud computing experiment has an ultimate goal to overhaul an inefficient system in which each government agency assembles its own system of underused hardware and assembles together unmanageable mosaic of software that is expensive to maintain and upgrade. The unprecedented embrace of the cloud computing concept by the U.S. Government will be presenting business opportunities in both the public and private sector.
