The move by the U.S. government to the cloud will make it more efficient and save it a lot of money; and with the current government shutdown, every billion will come in very handy. Although the savings this move will provide the government will be too late for what is taking place in Washington, the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative (FCCI) launched by the Obama administration in 2009 will move the computing needs of the government forward. The US government spends $19 billion on IT infrastructure from a $76 billion total annual IT budget. By introducing cloud technology, the government will be able to eliminate hundreds of datacenters around the country and make it more nimble.

The principal goal of FCCI is to modernize the IT infrastructure and reduce the cost for the many agencies within the federal government. As with any new policy in the government, it takes time, and the implementation takes even longer. Critics have voiced their concern with the lack of standardization regarding security and transition for their switch to the cloud. The administration has given assurances to include the public sector for help in standardizing security, interoperability, and data portability by launching Apps.gov, a one stop source for Federal Cloud Computing Information maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA (News - Alert)).

The site provides federal agencies a one-stop shop for purchasing cloud-based IT services such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

Vendors providing their services to federal agencies have to be on a GSA Schedule 70, which is a strict vetting process that ensures vendors have fair pricing and are in compliance with the GSA. This also includes meeting the security compliance regulations of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), and Federal Risk and Authorization Program (FedRAMP). Considering many of the organizations responsible for the security of the country making the move to the cloud, scrutinizing the companies, services, and technologies they will be implementing is extremely important.

The move by the government to the cloud is a monumental task, but one that is essential. Consolidating the country's IT services will reduce hardware costs and energy consumption, give the government flexibility, and provide citizens more access to information.