Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure FISMA Approval and Delivering on Public Sector Customer Needs

Some noteworthy items on the cloud front to highlight as the week comes to a close. First the good news on the Microsoft GFS (Global Foundation Services) blog that Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure has received FISMA approval. The blog states:

Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure has achieved another milestone in receiving its Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) Authorization to Operate (ATO). Meeting the requirements of FISMA is an important security requirement for US Federal agencies. The ATO was issued to Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services organization. It covers Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure that provides a trustworthy foundation for the company’s cloud services, including Exchange Online and SharePoint Online, which are currently in the FISMA certification and accreditation process.

All Microsoft cloud infrastructure customers can benefit from the highly-focused testing and monitoring, automated patch delivery, cost-saving economies of scale, and ongoing security improvements delivered by offerings in this area. Congratulations to the GFS team !!

The other bit of news that hit this week was that the General Services Administration (GSA) selected Google for its internal email messaging needs. Some thoughts on this are provided by Microsoft’s Tom Rizzo in this blog post in which he also describes why businesses are choosing Microsoft’s offerings for cloud productivity. Additionally, there’s a story on this topic from Fast Company titled “Uncle Sam Chooses Google Apps for GSA, but Microsoft Still Owns the Public Sector”. The story states that:

In the battle for the public sector cloud business, Microsoft is actually ahead. Last month both the state of California and New York City announced they were going with Microsoft.

Certainly an interesting time as businesses examine all the choices available for infrastructure, platform and software as service offerings. On the topic, there’s a recent whitepaper I highlighted in one of my posts in this forum that discusses the transformation of IT and the offerings available from Microsoft in these areas I urge you to review for more information.

Additionally you can always check out the Cloud Power site for more information and conversations related to Microsoft, computing and how real customers are utilizing cloud resources today.

Thanks - Larry