GSA moves e-mail to the cloud

The General Service Administration announced Wednesday that it will become the first federal agency to move to a cloud-based e-mail system for all employees. The system will use the Google Apps for Government platform, according to a Google spokesperson.

GSA expects the move to reduce its costs by 50 percent, or $15 million, over the next five years.

The shift comes as a result of a $6.7 million, five-year task order to Unisys Corp. under the Alliant governmentwide acquisition contract. Unisys is partnering with Google, Tempus Nova and Acumen Solutions in the contract.

The agency will receive a suite of services, including e-mail and collaboration tools, to facilitate a mobile workforce, according to a GSA news release.

"Cloud computing has a demonstrated track record of cost savings and efficiencies," said Casey Coleman, GSA's chief information officer. "With this award, GSA employees will have a modern, robust e-mail and collaboration platform that better supports our mission and mobile workforce, and costs half as much."

Google unveiled Apps for Government in July after receiving federal security certification from GSA. Other users of the service include the city of Los Angeles and the District of Columbia government.

"I think this is a very clear signal that the federal government is moving to the cloud and I think other agencies are closely watching," said David Mihalchik, business development executive for Google Federal.

"By making the switch ... GSA gets more powerful technology at a lower cost and better security, and that's good for the taxpayer," he added.

A GSA spokesman declined further comment until a news conference Thursday afternoon. Unisys did not immediately return calls and e-mails seeking comment.

Officials at Microsoft Corp., which had competed to provide cloud-based e-mail services for GSA, said they were "disappointed" in the agency's contract decision. Microsoft's proposed solution, the company said in a statement, "was a conscious decision to provide GSA with U.S.-only data center support, where data is maintained in the U.S., administered by U.S. citizens with background checks."

Cloud computing is a method of paying for and accessing information technology on-demand and online through third parties, instead of via agency servers. To reduce IT costs and greenhouse gas emissions, the White House has been pushing federal agencies to replace in-house servers and software licenses with cloud computing approaches. Just before Thanksgiving, the Office of Management and Budget ordered agencies to take a "cloud first" approach to IT solutions starting with the fiscal 2012 budget.