A memorandum to be released in October will highlight changes to the Defense Department’s approach to using third-party remote server computing services, DoD’s acting chief information officer announced today.
In a conference call with reporters, Terry Halvorsen said that while the Defense Information Systems Agency will remain as DoD’s cloud broker, , a changing role for DISA ideally will expedite and broaden cloud pilot programs by allowing military departments to execute their own acquisitions of commercial cloud services.
DISA will remain involved in approving the security plan that each military department wants, and the departments will have to submit their plans to DISA and the CIO’s office “so that [we] have the right sight picture of what is operating across the network,” Halvorsen said.
Moving into the commercial cloud will be less expensive while enabling enhanced network storage and protection in a more agile environment, the acting CIO said. DISA will be part of the process, he added, and decisions on the military departments’ plans will be based on a business case analysis template used in making all cyber information technology investment decisions.
Halvorsen noted that DISA will assess whether certain cloud pilot programs meet parameters of acceptable security risk for Defense Department use. He also announced plans to streamline parts of the global information grid waiver process to grant approval for third-party cloud services that effectively can support DoD missions.
“It gives us good industry data on who are the interested players in supporting a commercial cloud solution that meets DoD’s security requirements and, frankly, meets our financial requirements,” Halvorsen said.
(Follow Amaani Lyle on Twitter: @LyleDoDNews)