U.S. agencies embrace the cloud.

• Position: CLOUD

Four years ago the U.S. government took a major step toward modernizing its IT system by issuing a cloud-first mandate and identifying funds to support the effort. Agencies were directed to adopt cloud computing in some capacity and were advised on how to select services appropriate for migration to the cloud, such as e-mail systems. Some agencies have moved beyond the cloud-first mandate and are looking at using the cloud strategically to support their missions.

Executives from the Interior and Treasury Departments recently described some of the more strategic cloud initiatives they've deployed; their comments came during a forum sponsored by the University of Maryland's Center for Digital Innovation. Technology and Strategy. Those initiatives include cloud platforms that support the geospatial community, develop-and-test-as-a-service, and extranet services, reported InformationWeek.

Regardless of how they embrace the cloud, many agencies are not adequately considering the electronic recordkeeping requirements, which could lead to legal problems, warn former and current officials at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

"It doesn't surprise me that the issue of recordkeeping doesn't come up much in discussions about going to the cloud," Jason R. Baron, a lawyer at the Washington law firm Drinker Biddle and former director of litigation at NARA, recently told InformationWeek. "When people think about the cloud, the first issues that come to mind are security and privacy. Of course, those are extremely important, but from...