Cloud computing’s benefits outweigh the risks associated with moving data and applications to the cloud, panelists said at the Cloud Computing Caucus Advisory Group meeting this week.
Cultural hurdles and practical concerns about making the transition from legacy systems to cloud computing continue to prevent more rapid adoption of cloud computing initiatives, and Federal agencies still spend an estimated 80 percent of IT funding to support legacy systems. But agencies that move to the cloud have seen financial benefits.
Moving just 30 percent of the agency’s public data to the cloud would represent a financial windfall, Kadakia said. “I think I can save a lot of money for NASA, especially since we have such a big public data presence,” she said.
In addition to saving money, cloud computing can help improve security, panelists said.
“If the solution is architected properly for the cloud, it will provide a more secure platform,” said Tom Sasala, chief technology officer at the U.S. Army Information Technology Agency.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) plans to help agencies do that this year, said NIST Chief Cybersecurity Advisor Donna Dodson. The agency will complete its framework so agencies understand the security reference architecture they need to support cloud computing initiatives.
Moving to the cloud helped NASA expose – and fix – potential security vulnerabilities, Kadakia said.
Agencies still struggle to overcome cultural hurdles.
Kadakia, who moved 160 applications to public clouds over the past two years, won over her NASA colleagues by convincing them that information in the cloud would be secure and easily accessible. Striking that balance between security and control – giving engineers autonomy over their data – sold them on the cloud.
Panelists also praised the work of the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), the Federal government’s cloud security program.
FedRAMP has saved NASA “a lot of money” by preventing the agency from having to do its own risk assessments, Kadakia said.
Looking ahead, Kadakia said she hopes FedRAMP develops a risk assessment program for more commercially available software and mobile apps that agencies want to use – like collaboration and file sharing tools.
Three members of Congress attended the Cloud Computing Caucus Advisory Group meeting – Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia), Ted Lieu (D-California), and Mark Walker (R-North Carolina). Rep. Connolly is a founding member of the Cloud Computing Caucus and serves as co-chair of the Cloud Computing Caucus Advisory Group along with Reps. Walker and Lieu.