Cloud Computing at DoD, DISA, DIA, CENTCOM and NCOIC

At CloudCamp last week, Military Information Technology distributed free copies of it's November issue to all attendees. The issue contains a very informative article by Cheryl Gerber titled "Computing in the Clouds".  The article is a MUST READ and was written from one-on-one interviews on cloud computing with:

• Ken Pierce, IT Specialist with DIA-DS/C4ISR
• Robert Ames, Director and Deputy Chief Technology Officer, IBM Federal
• Colonel Joe Means, RACE Program Manager at DISA
• Alfred Rivera, Director DISA Computing Services Directorate
• Dave Jackson, CEO Cluster Resources
• Mike Kochanik, CollabNet VP of Worldwide Market Development
• Tim May, Apptis SVP Corporate Development
• Phil Horovitz, Apptis CTO
• Herb Kelsey, Managing Director, SBU Advisors
• Bob Lozano, Appistry Founder and Chief Strategist

The big take-a-ways are as follows:

• The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is using cloud computing to streamline operational expenses while providing users with fast, customized self-service.
  
• The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is using cloud computing to meet increasing demands to process large data on networks more rapidly while realizing budgetary efficiency
  
• Reliability enhancements from cloud computing helped the US Central Command (CENTCOM) mitigate the impact of an unplanned cessation of data transport.
  
• Cloud computing is seen by the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) as an obvious way to address enterprise large data problems.
  
• The DOD and DISA are leveraging cloud computing technologies for a global application lifecycle management solution and software development collaboration
  
• The Network-Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC), a consortium formed to support those who design and deliver systems for warriors, first-responders, and others that seek to maximize information age capabilities, has recently formed an Enterprise Cloud Computing group to address current mission requirements and to identify key areas of concern.