Government Googled

Thursday, 29 July 2010 08:10

Written by Rakesh Dogra

Google Inc, a behemoth in the world of cloud computing, has recently made the U.S. government one of its clients for its cloud-computing services.

The Google Apps for Government announcement came at a press event at Google headquarters after the company received FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) certification. To be precise, it has received the FISMA-Moderate rating, which implies that Google now has authority to store unclassified but sensitive data, which means up to 80% of government data. As Kripa Krishnan, Technical Program Manager at Google Apps for Government, clarifies, the FISMA review and certification makes for easier comparison between Google’s security features and those of Federal agencies. The company also goes on to say that most agencies have found Google’s security at least equal to their own, thus bolstering the government’s confidence in moving to the cloud. Google Apps was designed with the framework provided by Federal agencies and is a suite of cloud offerings for word processing, special email, and collaboration applications. The cloud bundle consists of Gmail, Calendar, Google Sites, Groups, Postini, Video, and Google Docs.

Google Apps for Government is a modification of Google Apps Premier Edition and goes an extra step in ensuring a separation between government mail and calendar data and that of the general populace. Such a separation is necessary, since the product is aimed at widespread usage in the face of fears following the Google Street View incident.

The new edition also offers the promise of helping the government “redeploy” resources for public use, since the company’s community cloud does not necessitate installation and maintenance of hardware and software. Making its case even stronger, Google provides assurance that the information will be stored within U.S. borders. Gmail and calendar data will be stored in a separate storage system designed specially by Google’s government contractors.

The Google cloud can also deliver better operations than the existing systems, resulting in cost savings. By pushing a portion of their IT systems into the cloud, the government can take advantage of such cost savings. Reports suggest that the current U.S. administration is looking at annual savings of $76 billion for computing and software by way of moving into the cloud. Incidentally, Federal spending on hardware and software is approximately $120 billion every year.

Google is also emphasizing to the government the potential benefits of paperless offices; these benefits include not only cost savings, but also a sleeker IT DNA structure.

The near future will also see the in-the-pipeline Google Chrome OS being updated for government use. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, says FISMA certification and government support is a banner of trust that has gone a long way in breaking down another barrier to seeking new and more effective data-management practices. He also said that Google would also seek FISMA certification for its Chrome OS, because all the aforementioned apps will run incredibly “well and securely” on that OS.

The U.S. government has been a client of Google in the past. Consider, for instance, Berkeley Lab’s usage of Google Apps to share emails in the cloud. Berkeley Lab is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. Business products like Google Earth and Google Apps are also widely used by Federal agencies and state governments. New Mexico, Kansas, and Florida are just some of the states that are Google Apps clients.

Interestingly, Microsoft is hot on Google’s heels in the FISMA race. Even though it is the biggest player for the government IT industry, its Microsoft Exchange email system has not yet received FISMA endorsement. The company is seeking certification for its Business Productivity Online Suite. Microsoft also has a few aces up its sleeve, one of which is its government-only cloud facility.

The FISMA seal should also give SMBs some confidence in Google’s services. Of course, they will still have to consider the nature of the data they will entrust to Google, but a FISMA certification does not hurt

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