Cloud

Going Multicloud Is an Easy Way to Control Agency Costs

Consider making the transition when a major cloud contract expires.

Gregory Kushto is Vice President of Engineering at Sirius Federal.

Many agencies don’t realize that going multicloud is easier than it sounds. It’s another way to control costs and ensure that applications are nimble enough to move anywhere they’re needed.

Agencies that already rely on multiple cloud service providers (CSPs) likely made the transition after a major cloud contract expired and built containers with their apps to move from one CSP to another with little difficulty.

Partners such as CDW, with its cloud and digital velocity teams, have the expertise agencies need to examine their IT environments and determine whether a multicloud or hybrid cloud strategy would be most efficient.

The upshot is that agencies can transfer app data from cloud to cloud or on-premises to control their monthly costs.

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Consider Going in on the Cloud with Other Agencies

Generally speaking, the bigger the cloud buy, the cheaper the cost. A small agency buying space with Amazon Web Services won’t get the same deal as an entire cabinet-level agency, but it can expand its cloud footprint by going in with other agencies.

That’s where little-used cross-agency procurement agreements come into play.

While a lot of agencies have agreed to some form of enterprisewide cloud computing, few if any have the actual scale needed. This results in agencies purchasing their own cloud apps or environments outside of their official IT shop. This is known as shadow IT, and it is hard to track.

Cross-agency procurement agreements allow those involved to buy cloud on an enterprise scale, so long as they’re aware of all the players and who needs what. CDW helps make those connections and get IT leaders in the same room.

An agency’s networking team needs to be on the same page as its data center and application teams in order to effectively deploy cloud solutions.

Indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts or volume purchase agreements are great options for saving money on cloud if properly structured.

DISCOVER: DOD is moving forward with its Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability.

DOD Multicloud Strategy Can Benefit Civilian Agencies

The Pentagon is realizing multicloud faster than civilian agencies because the chain of command is better aligned to execute enterprisewide, as opposed to branch by branch.

Civilian agencies need DOD-level funding for multicloud projects and still have to deal with higher turnover among their IT and cybersecurity personnel, who are not career military.

Early multicloud use cases might see artificial intelligence and app pieces within one cloud calling to another cloud to power a web results page with internal data.

CDW can help agencies identify the cheapest, quickest place to run an app or how to divide computing among CSPs logically.

A separate cloud isn’t needed in all cases. Most IT assets can reside on a server or in a storage network with processors for various apps.

This article is part of FedTech’s CapITal blog series.