Cloud

Federal Agencies Are Poised to Become More Agile Thanks to Cloud

Survey respondents look to cloud to be more nimble, and GSA follows suit.

Mark Lafferty is Director of Federal Sales at CDW•G.

Last year, the Office of Management and Budget released FedRAMP guidance intended to make it “easier and faster” for federal agencies to put cloud solutions to work.

Since the establishment of FedRAMP in 2011, cloud solutions have exploded, and they continue to grow exponentially. In addition, cloud services open the door to emerging technologies for federal organizations, empowering them to quickly innovate and improve productivity.

In recognition of the potential benefits of speedy cloud adoption for federal agencies, General Services Administration head Robin Carnahan said, “This highly anticipated guidance further equips GSA to make it safe and easy for federal agencies to deploy state-of-the-art technology to deliver better service to the American people.”

Click the banner below to learn about advancing cloud deployments.

Hand in hand with this new guidance, GSA launched the FedRAMP Agile Delivery Pilot. With the pilot, GSA acknowledged that cloud service providers face bureaucratic delays in rolling out any security-related changes. This “adds unpredictability and delay to the act of product improvement, creating risks and opportunity costs,” GSA says.

The FedRAMP Agile Delivery Pilot welcomed cloud service providers to test opt-in features aimed at simplifying a burdensome change management process in favor of iterative development — thus, speeding commercial technology into the hands of government workers.

With sound cloud-smart planning, federal agencies will be poised to capitalize on their cloud investments and take advantage of productive new tools as soon as possible.

Cloud Is a Ready-Made Environment for New Tools

The new OMB guidance aims to reduce the time and effort associated with secure software delivery approaches, boosting agility and flexibility for federal agencies. The 2024 CDW Cloud Computing Research Report, “What’s Next in the Cloud?,” found in a survey of IT executives that increased agility and efficiency is a main driver of cloud adoption.

In the report, survey respondents across various industries say their cloud benefits include greater reliability and recovery capabilities (57%), access to data and applications for remote users (55%), and increased agility and efficiency (51%).

With robust cloud strategies, organizations say they are poised to shift quickly to address their IT requirements and potentially capitalize on emerging technologies. Major cloud service providers regularly stay ahead of the curve, smoothly introducing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence tools to their consumer environments.

LEARN: The FITARA scorecard’s new procurement category could streamline cloud and AI adoption.

For example, the DevOps Institute notes that cloud service providers offer access to cloud AI developer services, enabling agencies to capitalize on agile development for AI in the cloud.

Cloud is a ready-made environment for introducing new tools to federal workflows.

Expectations vs. Reality in Adopting Cloud Solutions

In a recent white paper, “Providing a Modern Digital Experience for Federal Government,” CDW experts emphasize the importance of improving citizen services as the main goal of federal IT modernization.

Citizens expect digital interactions that are fast and seamless, but traditional government processes may create obstacles to achieving a pleasant experience, the authors write.

“Agencies’ lengthy budget cycles, stringent approval procedures and high staff mobility make them comparatively less agile than the private sector. Often, this leads to a continuous game of catch-up as citizen expectations evolve faster than agencies’ capabilities,” the white paper reads.

Despite budget and staffing constraints, federal agencies may be able to make incremental progress thanks to their cloud portfolios. Cloud service providers can ease the adoption of emerging tech tools with sustained vendor expertise, pricing agreements and a familiar IT environment.

UP NEXT: Are agencies using their tech innovation budgets meaningfully?

Eyeing Continuous Assessment Instead of Snapshots

GSA’s goal is to implement a continuous assessment process for FedRAMP-certified cloud solutions. The agency describes its current process as a “snapshot” that impairs rapid adoption of new offerings.

Writing for Nextgov/FCW, Brian Conrad, Zscaler’s director of global compliance, authorizing authority liaison, says, “Central to this guidance is the need for FedRAMP to establish an automated approach for intaking, using and reusing security assessments and reviews. The goal of this approach is to alleviate the slow implementation and approval process and create a faster environment for applying cloud solutions.”

“It will still be a while before FedRAMP can open this path marketwide,” GSA notes.

These actions are a step in the right direction, however, and they constitute good news for future federal outcomes.

Olga Nikiforova/Getty Images