U.S. government jumps for cloud computing in a big way

The federal government -- alongside everyone else with web access and a pulse -- seems to have taken a sudden interest in adopting cloud computing technologies. Late yesterday saw the launch of Apps.Gov, an internet portal built to allow government organizations quick and painless access to purchasing cloud services for their operations.

Partnering with companies like Google, VMware, and Salesforce.com, Apps.Gov aims to provide government agencies a streamlined method of purchasing, provisioning, and maintaining cloud-based applications. This is achieved in part by the fact that the applications featured on Apps.Gov have already gone through the federal examinations necessary to allow for procurement, saving agencies time and duplicate effort.

Apps.Gov is starting out small and will expand as they collect feedback and usage metrics; however, the Feds are looking at a very tall goal of reducing the number of taxpayer dollars required to operate the various IT departments that keep the government running.

[via ZDNet]

Tags: cloud, cloud computing, CloudComputing, federal government, FederalGovernment