GSA Aware of Cloud Challenges

GSA predicts its move to a cloud-based e-mail system for all employees will be a good thing in the long run, but the agency's chief information officer acknowledged some immediate challenges on Thursday.

Information security is the paramount concern with the switch to the system that will use the Google Apps for Government platform, said CIO Casey Coleman during a Thursday afternoon call with reporters.

Anytime a switch in a critical business platform occurs, other problems are bound to crop up as well, she said. Those include management challenges such as making sure everybody understands the process and the plan, as well as training issues.

Another problem that could pop up is ensuring that all information contained in the current platform is migrated successfully to the cloud, Coleman said.

Nevertheless, "I believe everyone is excited and looking forward to [the] change," Coleman added.

It was also critical that GSA make the switch now, according to Coleman. Current e-mail systems run on some servers that are as old as six years, and GSA has come close to an outage, Coleman said, adding there was an "urgency on [the] sense of timing." The agency plans to fully transition in fiscal year 2011.