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Contents
Using the cloud in the public sector ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 Step 1: Determine your on-premises vs. cloud balance ................................................................................................................ 2 Step 2: Choose your cloud ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Step 3: Assess your workloads................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Step 4: Compare the services ................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Step 5: Assess risk and security ............................................................................................................................................................... 9 Next steps ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
List of tables
Table 1. Considerations when comparing on-premises vs. cloud computing ..................................................................... 2 Table 2. Benefits of cloud messaging and collaboration services ............................................................................................. 3 Table 3. Summary of Microsoft Online Services SLA ...................................................................................................................... 5
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Table 1. Considerations when comparing on-premises vs. cloud computing Onpremises Heterogeneous infrastructure Capital expense Own Self-managed Cycle in years On-site Built for peak demand Homogeneous infrastructure Operating expense Lease or rent Third-party managed Cycle in months Off-site Changes based on demand Hybrid Cloud
Decision point: What is your priority? If your goal is to shift more of your IT cost center from a capital expense to an operational expense, the pay-as-you-go SaaS model is a good choice. However, if your organization requires direct control over physical assets and operational personnel, a solution onpremises may work better for you.
Microsoft offers solutions that let you enjoy the benefits of the cloudlower IT costs, enhanced collaboration, and ease of accesswith the applications you already know and trust. Table 2 takes a closer look at how the cloud can benefit public sector organizations.
Table 2. Benefits of cloud messaging and collaboration services Considerations Infrastructure Cloud benefits
Replaces heterogeneous IT platforms and legacy infrastructures, which often operate as data silos, with a unified platform. Supports geographically distributed teams and mobile workers with a single infrastructure in the cloud.
Business model
Helps simplify budgeting, because the clouds all-inclusive pricing models eliminate the need to estimate hardware, licensing, service, and support fees separately. Can replace capital expenditures with a more predictable monthly service fee.
Availability
Provides network-based access to applicationsemail, documents, contacts, calendars, and morefrom virtually anywhere on almost any device. Supports predictability and flexibility for all or part of your organization with pay-as-you-go pricing options.
Management
Offloads operational maintenance of the services, thus reducing your administrative overhead. Includes business-class features, such as IT-level phone support, a service level agreement (SLA) of 99.9-percent uptime,viii geographic redundancy, and disaster recovery.
Deploys updates seamlessly so you dont need to manage software deployment processes. Accommodates peaks and valleys in demand automaticallyand you pay only for what you use. Reduces capital and operational expenses associated with equipping and managing data centers to serve peak capacity periods.
and BPOS for Federal work this way and are designed to meet the enhanced security needs of the
U.S. government, including state and local governments, government contractors, and other entities that require this level of security. For example, the USDA has chosen to provide email, document sharing, and other collaboration tools in this manner.
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In a private cloud. This solution hosts applications and services within your own or a partners data center that you manage, giving you a high degree of operations control, enhanced security, and data sovereignty. The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) delivers Microsoft Office applications from a private cloud. The U.S. Army is a tenant. Cloud models from Microsoft
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In the cloud, you put your trust in the providers ability to deliver the level of service you require. Table 3 summarizes the SLA you can expect from Microsoft Online Services. Table 3. Summary of Microsoft Online Services SLA Service type Security Microsoft dedicated and public cloud data centers Data centers continuously strive to meet or exceed U.S. federal government and international security body standards. Secure Internet protocols include HTTPS and HTTP over SSL to access your services. Data centers and services are managed by rigorously screened and highly trained staff. Reliability and availability Provisioning Customer support Disaster recovery You can adjust your deployment model dynamically as your needs shift and grow. Support is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Data centers are outfitted to operate during power outages and after natural disasters. Redundant network architecture is capable of disaster recovery. Microsoft replicates data from its primary data centers to secondary data centers for redundancy, without storing any data off-site. 99.9-percent uptime Service Level Agreement.
Decision point: Where are the hosting facilities? If a cloud service provider uses a data center located outside the United States, you need to know which law applies to your institution's datathe law where you are located or the law where your data is located. Export control laws may also apply to your data. If your data must be stored within the United States, Microsoft has primary and backup data centers in the United States to help ensure reliability and failover for government customers.
Decision point: Customization in the cloud A public cloud solution should allow you to modify the workflows of applications and services to suit your business processes. Dedicated and private clouds typically offer a greater degree of customization and integration of services than do public clouds.
Decision point: Application performance If you run bandwidth-intensive applications that require lower latency and packet loss than your Internet provider can deliver, you probably dont want to use the cloud for that workload. A high-performance infrastructure on-premises may be preferred and could be integrated in a hybrid cloud model for the agency.
Regulatory requirements
Office 365 services are built to meet both government and commercial regulatory requirements and have additional security features, such as two-factor authentication. Each agency has unique needs, though, so please contact us to discuss your specific agency requirements and accreditations. Decision point: Will legal requirements be met? Microsoft data centers help preserve the chain of custody for 20 different document formats, including XML Paper Specification (XPS), Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.5, PDF/A, and Open Document Format (ODF) v1.1. When moving these types of documents between Microsoft on-premises and cloud services, documents retain the format and fidelity needed to comply with the requirements of the Federal Records Act, the E Government Act of 2002, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the implementing regulations issued by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Feature requirements
Are you using features, add-ons, or services in on-premises deployments that you want to ensure are also available in your cloud-hosted software? Make sure you verify whether the custom forms or addon services that you use today are also available from the cloud service. Public and dedicated clouds can differ in the type of features they offer, even when the services are based on similar software. Decision point: Will one size fit all in your organization? You may need to meet the unique requirements of individual user groups, such as kiosk workers who do not typically work at a desk or information workers who do. Microsoft Online Services allow your agency to choose an appropriate mix of services without requiring you to over-provision to meet specific agency needs. 8
Business Productivity Online Services-Federal has also received FISMA certification and accreditation resulting in an official ATO, which includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Office Communications Online.
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Decision point: Is data encryption enough? Some regulatory or security issues may prevent you from hosting even encrypted data in a public cloud. A private cloud may offer an alternative if you still want to take advantage of cloud benefits.
When you entrust your data to someone elses data center, your need to know how that data is collected, used, and stored. In a Microsoft data center, your data is handled at an operational level and processed as part of the services you use. For example, a user might send an email using the Exchange Online service or post a document to a shared workspace using SharePoint Online. The Microsoft service does not know what is in the email or document but uses security protocols that help protect your contents during transfer and storage. Your data is treated by Microsoft under the terms of its privacy and security policies. Data privacy extends beyond data center technology to include partnerships and collaboration among users and providers. Thats why Microsoft policies and processes are designed to ensure that we: Engineer privacy into our products during the product life cycle. Implement privacy-based technology throughout our internal processes. Execute our global privacy practices properly throughout the company. Provide leadership for the industry. Microsoft will not contact a customers users, nor will we use any personal information collected for providing the services, for marketing or advertising purposes, except with the explicit consent of the customer.
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Decision point: Does your cloud provide privacy? Make sure a cloud service includes data encryption, effective data anonymization, and mobile location privacy in their service. In federal agencies, your contract with a service provider should include provisions for complying with the Privacy Act of 1974.
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Next steps
Todays expectation for messaging and collaboration virtually anywhere and on any almost every device is being met in the cloud. To find out how your organization can benefit while meeting your operational and regulatory requirements, call your Microsoft sales representative or channel partner and ask for more information.
Microsoft in the cloud Microsoft has been running some of the largest, most reliable cloud services in the world for almost 15 years. With more than 40 million paying customers, our online services help public and private sector organizations alike to improve efficiency and cut costs by migrating part or all of their messaging and collaboration solutions to the cloud. On your journey to the cloud, look to Microsoft for options that fit your specific requirements. We can deliver your cloud services from the public cloud, a private cloud, or a self-hosted cloud infrastructure. In addition, we offer a robust hybrid model that combines both on-premises and cloud service-based computing.
Learn more at
http://www.microsoft.com/govcloud
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Endnotes
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USDA moves 120,000 users to Microsofts cloud. Microsoft press release. December 8, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2010/dec10/12-08usda.mspx ii Microsoft signs cloud deals with California, New York City. CIO. October 20, 2010. http://www.cio.com/article/627563/Microsoft_Signs_Cloud_Deals_with_California_New_York_City iii State of Minnesota signs historic cloud computing agreement with Microsoft. PR Newswire. September 27, 2010. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/state-of-minnesota-signs-historic-cloud-computing-agreement-with-microsoft103865608.html iv Microsoft signs cloud deals with California, New York City. CIO. October 20, 2010. http://www.cio.com/article/627563/Microsoft_Signs_Cloud_Deals_with_California_New_York_City v The economics of the cloud tor the U.S. public sector. Microsoft white paper. November 2010. http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/9/4/E94877E4-012E-42ED-A0432A3A00E09F70/USPublicSectorCloudEconomics.pdf vi Microsoft helps customers, partners harness Cloud Power. Microsoft. November 1, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2010/nov10/11-01CloudPower.mspx vii Microsoft unveils new government cloud offerings at eighth annual Public Sector CIO Summit. Microsoft. February 24, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/feb10/02-24ciosummitpr.mspx viii Financially-backed 99.9% uptime stated in Office 365 Pricing and Fact Sheet. Microsoft. 2011. http://office365.microsoft.com/uploadedFiles/Office365FactSheet_en.docx ix Fast-growing city moves to online services to reduce costs, boost productivity.Microsoft case study. July 13, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-Exchange-Server-2003/City-of-Plano-Texas/Fast-Growing-City-Moves-toOnline-Services-to-Reduce-Costs-Boost-Productivity/4000007938 x USDA moves 120,000 users to Microsofts cloud. Microsoft press release. December 8, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2010/dec10/12-08usda.mspx xi Army to move e-mail accounts to DISA cloud. Federal Times.com. January 7, 2011. http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20110107/IT03/101070301 xii City government improves service offerings, cuts costs with cloud services solution. Microsoft case study. February 24, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/case_study_detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000006568 xiii http://blogs.technet.com/b/gfs/archive/2010/12/01/microsoft-s-cloud-infrastructure-receives-fisma-approval.aspx xiv http://blogs.technet.com/b/msonline/archive/2011/04/20/bpos-federal-amp-fisma.aspx BPOS Federal and FISMA xv Microsoft privacy in the cloud. Microsoft Trustworthy Computing website. http://www.microsoft.com/privacy/cloudcomputing.aspx
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