How to manage the 'cloud' for greater cost savings.

• Author: Lambeth, John
• Position: Viewpoint

* The Defense Department faces pressure--as do all federal agencies--to reduce information-technology spending and increase resource efficiency through cloud computing.

In July, the department unveiled its ambitious new cloud computing strategy, which builds on a similar Obama administration strategy to address challenges, requirements and goals specific to Defense.

The strategy serves as a roadmap to guide the department's transition to cloud computing--a task of Herculean proportions, particularly in light of its many component organizations. The new cloud strategy "introduces an approach to move the department from the current state of a duplicative, cumbersome and costly set of application silos to an end state," according to the strategy. The goal will be an "agile, secure and cost-effective service environment that can rapidly respond to changing mission needs."

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This new strategy includes notable efforts to establish effective governance over the department's cloud initiatives. It calls for the establishment of an Enterprise Cloud Broker to manage the use, performance and delivery of cloud services, while also negotiating the relationships between cloud providers and cloud consumers. In addition, the Defense Department's chief information officer will establish a joint enterprise cloud computing governance structure to drive the necessary policy and process changes and ensure an enterprise-first approach to adoption.

In establishing these two governance structures, the department laid the foundation for success. Private sector organizations that have built and implemented cloud strategies for themselves, and for their government customers, understand that governance is the single most important element in successful cloud transitions of any size and scope.

However, without understanding each and every agency function, any cloud migration can fail to realize the expected savings and efficiencies. This is where cloud-computing governance comes in.

Governance is the traffic-control system that keeps the transition to the cloud, and the resulting service-based environment, moving smoothly. If governance is too loose, the system devolves into chaos. If governance is too constricting, progress slows to a crawl.

Generally speaking, governance keeps all parties on task by interpreting and adhering to the same set of standards. For a successful transition to the cloud, effective governance should:

* Set uniform standards...