Nearly Nine Of 10 Federal IT Professionals 'Apprehensive' About Cloud

Competing interests, budget issues, security concerns and fear of the unknown are holding the federal sector back when it comes to adopting cloud solutions, according to some solution providers.

A new MeriTalk study found 89 percent of IT professionals feel apprehension about cloud migration, and partners confirmed they have had difficulty in the field encouraging their clients to make the shift to the cloud.

Brad Glasco, vice president of Federated IT, based in Herndon, Va., said his client base -- which is solely comprised government agencies -- feels trepidation when it comes to making the move.

’The issue runs the gamut,’ he told CRN. "It's a mixture of factors. There's concern for security. There's self-interest. … But I believe, based on what we’re seeing, if we had a more secure, more mature capability that is bullet-proof for the government today, I don’t think they’d have any issue at all."

[Related: Government Focused Cloud Industry Expected To Hit Nearly $19B By 2018]

He noted mega breaches in the private sector -- with giant corporate conglomerates falling victim to hacking at Target and Home Depot -- that don't help the argument that cloud is a safe choice.

MeriTalk's report released Tuesday, from a study underwritten by NetApp and Arrow, showed 44 percent of agencies have "mature" data governance practices in the cloud and 56 percent are currently in the process of implementing data stewardship or a more formal data governance program for their cloud services or vendors.

Security plays a huge role in these reported insecurities, with just one in five agency participants reporting that the security offered by their cloud vendors is completely sufficient, according to the study which was conducted this summer with 153 participating federal IT professionals with an 8 percent margin of error.

MeriTalk's study noted federal agencies have a long way to go with "key elements missing from their data governance policies." Sixty-one percent of study participants said their agencies do not have quality, documented metadata. Fifty-two percent do not have well-understood data integration, 50 percent have not defined or identified data owners and 49 percent do not have known systems of record.

The study also found 55 percent of federal IT professionals say cloud makes data management and stewardship easier, listing upgrades and configuration management, stronger virtual staff support, faster data access and system monitoring as key benefits.

"Why are grown adults afraid of the dark?," said MeriTalk Founder Stephen O’Keeffe. "Cloud solution providers need to turn on the lights so feds can see if there are monsters behind the door and under the bed."

NEXT: Redundancies In Forming Policy May Hurt Government Shift, Too

Chris Baca, enterprise architect at Herndon, V.A.,-based Qivliq Federal Group, said what's been particularly frustrating has been the bureaucratic processes in place for adopting cloud which can be redundant of the certification processes already in place. He said that slows down the process and holds up government entities from moving forward with cloud adoption.

’[A main issue we run into] is really the policy and governance around moving into the cloud,’ he said. ’There’s a standard out there -- FedRAMP (the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) … but an agency will do their own processes. It’s a duplicative effort. … We see nine out of 10 [agencies] choose a FedRAMP provider, then go through the pipeline and spend money to accredit and process once more.’

Baca said there simply has to be more understanding around what it means for the government to go to cloud, to save time as well as money. MeriTalk on Wednesday is hosting a large cloud computing conference on the subject at the Newseum in Washington D.C. with federal leaders including Chief Information Officer for the Defense Information Systems Agency David Bennett and FBI Deputy Assistant Director Jeremy Wiltz.

Aaron Frketich, vice president at the MSP 360 IT Partners in Virginia Beach, said he has seen a hesitancy to go to cloud from the private sector, too. He said there is also a question of whether the solution is more cost-effective.

’It can be,’ Frketich said. ’Every situation is different. When you look at three or five years over time, it is more costly to put things in the cloud. … There’s a lot of cases, and more cases these days go for a hybrid approach. … When you’re putting all your eggs out there, there are still a lot of hesitations.’

For resolving hesitancy issues, Kirk Kern, chief technology officer for NetApp’s public sector groups, said organizations have to trust the security in place and work with the professionals to find what works best. He noted NetApp provides their groups the opportunity to be stewards of their data, an option which can be of comfort.

’Cloud consumers must develop data management processes and role-based control mechanisms to ensure success,’ Kern added.

PUBLISHED SEPT. 10, 2014