Data Backup Digest

As the country's largest federal law enforcement agency, employees with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection have a unique job – securing the nation's borders. It's a job that is often marred in controversy and even confusion – but it's vital to the security of the United States.

Problems of a Technical Nature

Putting politics aside, the U.S. CBP has another problem – it hasn't yet decided on a cloud service provider. Although they've established a clear plan to migrate their network – including all of the data and applications contained within – away from its current location at the Office of Information Technology National Data Center by the year 2022, they have yet to announce an official host.

Linda Jacksta, assistant commissioner with the Office of Human Resource Management at the U.S. CBP, spoke about the need for greater technological integration by saying: "In this competitive hiring environment, it is critical for law enforcement agencies to embrace new technologies as a tool for accomplishing their mission—and CBP is no exception. We are committed to investing in innovative technologies and solutions, such as Salesforce, to improve our business in the most cost effective and efficient manner possible."

Finding Solutions Near and Far

Although they haven't announced any potential candidates for their full-scale integration, the U.S. CBP seems to be actively exploring their options. This news was originally broke when they published and request-for-information, or RFI, in March of 2018.

The latest RFI reads, in part: "CBP is looking to determine contractor interest in providing the services (as a whole or partially) described in the Statement of Objectives, the contractor’s ability to perform this work, anticipated alliances and teaming arrangements and rough order of magnitude costs for each area of interest."

According to the RFI, the U.S. CBP is currently seeking a five-year contract with a reputable company – and they've already garnered lots of interest. In fact, the U.S. CBP recently selected Salesforce to streamline and modernize their employee recruitment process.

Dave Rey, executive vice president of public sector operations with Salesforce, was recently quoted as saying: ''"There is a huge opportunity for government agencies to modernize so they can meet the expectations of today's digitally savvy employees and citizens. By deploying Salesforce, CBP is empowering its employees with a modern CRM platform that will boost engagement, information sharing and productivity."''

Known as the Community Cloud, the joint venture marks the U.S. CBP's entry into the cloud. If all goes well, future expansion – through additional partnerships and applications – is almost a given. For now, their efforts focus on Salesforce Analytics and similar services. Apart from recruiting new staff and managing big data, Salesforce will also be used to strengthen community engagement and provide additional security across physical and virtual borders alike.

Finding out More Information

Those who wish to respond to the RFI must do so by April 16, 2018. For more information on the United States Customs and Border Protection, including details on their recent RFI, please visit their official website at {{https://www.cbp.gov|www.cbp.gov}}.