Protecting Digital Data Eggs with Multiple Clouds
February 20, 2020
Rumor has it the CIA has finally begun the procurement process to update its cloud technology, we learn from Inventa’s article, “The CIA Wants to Upgrade its Cloud Tech Without DoD’s JEDI Drama.” Though we’re told an agency spokesperson refused to confirm the plan, we imagine the CIA is eager to avoid the Iowa App syndrome. Writer surbhi suspects the CIA is reluctant to comment because it wishes to avoid the sort of spotlight that was cast last year on the Pentagon’s JEDI cloud procurement process. According to Nextgov, though, the agency has released its draft RFP, expects proposals to be in this spring, and plans to make a decision by September.
The article notes that, about a year ago, the CIA’s Directorate of Digital Innovation put forth its C2E (or Commercial Cloud Enterprise) plan. Though some specifics seem to have changed since that announcement, it likely still represents a commercial contract worth tens of billions of dollars. That impression is reinforced by the plan outlined last summer by the Director of National Intelligence, “The Strategic Plan to Advance Cloud Computing in the Intelligence Community” (PDF), which emphasizes:
“Information is exploding in volume and velocity and challenging our ability to expeditiously collect, analyze, and draw conclusions from disparate data sets. Additional manpower will not close the resulting gap; we must leverage leading edge technology. The future IC cloud environment presented herein will effectively function as a force multiplier to enhance our effectiveness and address mission challenges.”
The write-up reminds us:
“The CIA was an early adherent of the cloud when it chose Amazon to build a $600 million private cloud in 2013. … The Atlantic called it a ‘radical departure for the risk-averse intelligence community’ in a 2014 article. Cloud technology has certainly evolved in the seven years since the CIA last did this exercise, and it makes sense that it would want to update a system this old, which is really ancient history in technology terms. The CIA likely sees the same cloud value proposition as the private sector around flexibility, agility and resource elasticity, and wants the intelligence community to reap the same benefits of that approach. Certainly, it will help store, process and understand an ever-increasing amount of data, and put machine learning to bear on it as well.”
Putting the available digital eggs in one rucksack may not be prudent.
Cynthia Murrell, February 20, 2020
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