The hype surrounding Cloud Computing in government has risen to a deafening level as government IT leaders and eager contractors try to find relevance for the technology within the federal enterprise. To make Cloud Computing work for government, it helps to take a step back and understand why the technology has been so successful elsewhere. Cloud Computing isn’t just a way to cut costs and drive efficiency; it also brings technology closer to business users. With cloud infrastructure, users are able to quickly spin up tools that they want use, but aren’t necessarily the choice of their organization’s technology gatekeepers. Cloud platforms let users quickly develop and implement applications in a way that short-circuits typical development lifecycles. This closes the gap between business users and technology. Increasing the alignment between business users and the software and hardware that supports them is perhaps the most important (and often unstated) benefit of Cloud Computing in the enterprise. It’s the reason that Cloud infrastructure and platforms have allowed for the creation of scores of startups, and helped to fuel the rise of Web 2.0 tools behind the firewall. But, does this free wheeling attitude towards the implementation of IT tools resonate behind the doors of government agencies?

It can, and agencies are starting to show how. NASA’s Nebula enables project teams to develop and deploy software to meet their needs, and can take advantage of the scalability Cloud platforms can provide. The GSA’s planned “app store” would allow government users to quickly purchase applications and infrastructure, have them delivered through the Cloud, and pay via a credit card. Agencies that want to make their internal Cloud platforms successful should keep the notion of customer centricity in mind; to be successful they’ll need to keep their private Cloud simple, and accessible to end users. Looking at Cloud computing solely from the lens of an IT director or CFO won’t make Cloud computing anything more significant than the infrastructure technologies that preceded it. By bringing users a step closer to the technology that can help solve their problems, Cloud Computing can be as transformative in government as it has been in the private sector.

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