WASHINGTON, 29 July 2012. U.S. military leaders have begun moving U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) military information technology (IT) resources to secure cloud computing. DOD this month announced a plan to move the department's network applications from what officials call "application silos" to a cloud-computing approach.

“This strategy will align with all department-wide military IT initiatives, federal data center consolidation and military cloud computing efforts," says Teri Takai, the DOD's chief information officer.

The DOD's new cloud-computing strategy establishes the Joint Information Environment (JIE) enterprise with seamless access to information regardless of computing device or location, DOD officials say. The DOD Enterprise Cloud Environment is a key component of the JIE.

The DOD's current approach to IT is duplicative, cumbersome, and costly, officials say. The new cloud-computing approach will be more agile, secure, and cost effective, and can rapidly respond to changing mission needs. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) at Fort Meade, Md., will over see DOD cloud computing resources.

“We are moving to an enterprise cloud environment that provides tangible benefits across the department by supporting the delivery of the joint information environment, from the continental United States to the warfighter at the tactical edge," Takai says.

"This strategy lays the groundwork, as part of the Joint Information Environment framework, for achieving cloud adoption within the department,” Takai continues. “It focuses on the creation of department core data centers, enterprise cloud infrastructure and sustainment of cloud services.”

The DOD's new cloud-computing strategy is outlined in a white paper online at www.defense.gov/news/DoDCloudComputingStrategy.pdf. For more information contact DISA online at http://www.disa.mil/

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