Data Backup Digest

The Department of Defense’s milCloud was originally launched in March 2014. Operated by government officials and focused on providing ultra-secure access to applications and files that are pertinent to the military sector, milCloud 1.0 was lauded as a complete success. As useful as it was, the infrastructure just wasn’t enough to accommodate the increasing scope and scale of the whole project. To accommodate this, milCloud 2.0 was recently launched in June 2017.

What’s the Rush?

Skeptics of milCloud 2.0 are quick to point out that it’s only been three years since the first iteration of the service. However, those who are behind milCloud 2.0 are confident that the move will let them expand their services and offer functionality in the way of greater cloud-based storage, database management and more. They’re also citing lower costs of ownership and increased infrastructure consolidation as primary selling points of milCloud 2.0.

CSRA, which was one of five corporations that were competing for the new, three-year contract, was ultimately selected to lead the roll-out of the newly updated infrastructure. The contract is worth at least $498 million, but the contract includes the option to extend the contract by five years.

Larry Prior, president and CEO of CSRA, spoke about the deal in a recent statement by saying: ''“This win is a game-changer for CSRA. We are now positioned as the industry leader for cloud and military IT. The milCloud 2.0 Platform will enable our DoD customers to deploy CSRA's next-generation technology and services to complete their missions more efficiently and more securely. The Department of Defense is ready to take the next step in its IT transformation. We are excited to continue this partnership with the military and provide our experts and resources to exceed their demands.”

Ken Deutsch, head of the Defense Group with CSRA, echoed these sentiments by stating: “milCloud provides an enormous opportunity for CSRA, and we are honored to expand our support for the Department of Defense under this new contract. By leveraging our partnerships with the world's leading technology companies, CSRA will empower the military with our secure cloud technology while lowering costs and increasing efficiency.”

Multiple Avenues of Approach

The milCloud isn’t the only government-sponsored approach toward cloud computing. In fact, they’ve unveiled a three-pronged strategy that incorporates both on- and off-premises cloud computing as well as traditional IT services.

John Hale with the Defense Information Systems Agency, or DISA, spoke about the need for such versatility by saying: “On premise commercial cloud, or on premise private cloud is something necessary in order for certain types of data to live and reside and to function. And number three is leverage off-premise commercial cloud as much as possible and leverage that secret sauce that those providers give you because that’s where your biggest bang for your buck is going to be.”''

Keeping the milCloud Secure

Although milCloud 2.0 marks the first time the program will be headed by an external contractor, officials are adamant that the government will maintain full control of user data as well as the applications that appear within milCloud. While its usefulness to date cannot be denied, those involved with milCloud are hopeful that the new updates will provide even more functionality and security.