With details emerging over the operation to bring down Osama bin Laden, the tech sector has gotten a boost of encouragement, simply knowing the American government required sophisticated technologies to collect and process a large amount of intelligence data to successfully pull of the raid on bin Laden’s compound.  Yes, the military had a big win, thanks to the tech world, but when it comes to the cloud, government organizations are still developing standards and use cases for emerging trends. 

The Obama Administration made promises to encourage a more transparent government, and dedicate resources to developing technologies that will keep our country in a leading position.  To that end, TechAmerica created Cloud2, comprising of a Commission of though leaders to help develop standards for cloud deployment.  The three-month mandate is to provide the Obama Administration with recommendations for how government should deploy cloud technologies, affecting public policies that drive innovation for the cloud, from large enterprises down to small businesses.

“They’re realizing the benefits around optimization and computing,” says Kurt Roemer, Citrix Chief Security Strategist.  He’s also the Commissioner on the Cloud2 initiative, leading discussions specifically for the public cloud sector.  “Many were moving into cloud computing for cost savings, but there’s also the benefits of faster response time, improved security, and collaboration, whereas before, they would have had their own systems in silos.  The U.S. government is setting the pace for the rest of the world.”

It’s an audacious statement to make, but a pertinent one.  The face of cloud computing is ever-evolving, leaving countless facets to consider, and implementation issues to resolve.  The going trend is for a hybrid cloud approach, maintaining the benefits the cloud initially offered, while relying on innovation to push development forward.  For Cloud2, identifying these challenges will help to ensure that the right controls and practices are put in place for moving into the cloud.  Applying former concepts for server security to today’s cloud simply won’t work.

Cloud2 is focused on transparency and interoperability, promoting transparency in the process in order to allow for more transparency in the government.  If it sounds familiar, it’s because this is part of Obama’s long term goals, and among the many things Cloud2 will be addressing.  “This is the first real call towards transparency with the government,” Roemer notes.  “We’ve seen initiatives from the tech industry, but with the Commission we’re promoting collaboration throughout the stack.”

Transparency can be tricky enough for any cloud initiative, but it’s even more harrowing for the government.  “You can’t just expect the cloud to be this magical place where you put apps, and everything respects privacy and security,” Roemer explains.  “Everyone utilizing cloud standards needs to recognize security and privacy, and ensure compliance.  There are certain questions you have to ask.”

Roemer would know, especially coming from the Citrix camp.  For the public cloud in particular, Citrix has become an integral contributor to the development of its use cases and industry standards.  Not only is Citrix involved in the Cloud2 program, but is a significant partner to RackSpace’s OpenStack project as well.  The advantage being Citrix’s ability to make recommendations to its own clients, the company is happy to get involved with initiatives like Cloud2, and find new ways to pass its lessons down the line.

But given the recent cloud shake up that stirred Amazon and Sony’s PlayStation Network, my meeting with Roemer was also an opportunity to discuss standards beyond the government’s cloud.  “You have to appropriately manage growth,” Roemer starts.  “We address that with mitigations for certain risks.  In [Amazon’s] case, a business shouldn’t have all its data with one provider.  We want to have a recommendation for situations like that.”