Overview[]
In March of 2009, the Federal Chief Information Officers Council identified cloud computing as a priority for meeting the growing need for effective and efficient use of information technology to meet the performance and mission needs of the government. To assist in fostering cloud computing adoption, the federal Cloud Computing Program Management Office (CC PMO) was created in April 2009 at GSA.
The CC PMO resides in the Office of Citizen Service and Innovation Technologies. The Director of the PMO also meets weekly with the Federal CIO to report on progress, discuss risks and mitigations, identify promising cloud projects across the government and refine direction. The PMO also reports on its activities and results to the CIO Council Cloud Computing Executive Steering Committee (ESC). The ESC provides oversight for the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative and fosters communications among agencies on cloud computing. ESC Membership includes senior IT executives from across the entire Federal government.
The CC PMO provides technical and administrative leadership to cloud computing initiatives. CC PMO staff is drawn from GSA technical experts with some additional contractor support. The primary focus of the CC PMO is on the following activities:
- Support for the design and operation of the Apps.Gov cloud computing storefront and related cloud procurement initiatives
- Facilitating identification of key cloud security requirements (certification, accreditation, and authorization), particularly on a government-wide basis through a new FedRAMP initiative
- Promotion of current and planned cloud projects across the government
- Data center consolidation analysis, planning, and strategy support
- Development and open dissemination of relevant cloud computing information.
To augment their skill base, the PMO has formed working groups to address specific areas including security, standards and specific cloud-based solutions with government or multi-agency use, such as cloud based e-mail services. The working groups are composed of staff from across the government who bring expertise and interest to address specific obstacles or define paths to adoption. Each group is chaired by a government expert. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) led both the security and the standards groups. The e-mail group is chaired by an expert from Department of the Interior.
The CC PMO manages a storefront, Apps.Gov, established by GSA to provide a central location where federal customers can purchase software as a service cloud computing application.