Hacked, pwnd and your tax money stolen in 5, 4, 3…
The federal government plans to shut 40 percent of its computer centers over the next four years to reduce its hefty technology budget and modernize the way it uses computers to manage data and provide services to citizens.
[...]
The federal government is the largest buyer of information technology in the world, spending about $80 billion a year. The Obama administration, in plans detailed Wednesday, is taking aim at some of that by closing 800 of its sprawling collection of 2,000 data centers. The savings, analysts say, will translate into billions of dollars a year and acres of freed-up real estate.
[...]
In an interview, Vivek Kundra, chief information officer for the federal government, explained that the data center consolidation was part of a broader strategy to embrace more efficient, Internet-era computing. In particular, the government is shifting to cloud computing, in which users use online applications like e-mail remotely, over the Internet. These cloud services can be provided by the government to many agencies or by outside technology companies.
Tapping cloud computing services, Mr. Kundra said, could save the government an additional $5 billion a year, reducing the need for individual government agencies to buy their own software and hardware.
When the cable/fiber/T1 is cut, we get the day off. Someone please hand me the pliers.
It save a lot of time if the government simply transferred all our personal data to the government of Nigeria, and all remaining classified data to WikiLeaks.
The future looks more and more like Rollerball.
40% in 4 years? Yeah right, not unless that 40% is already useless or low density. And I doubt that.
Playing the Information Architecture playbook. Externalise infrastructure but internalise content creation. Problem is, once you externalise infrastructure you lose control over how it is utilised. And who else uses it.
# 17 GregAllen, ‘Any clear headed thinkers here who can give some insight on this?’
Vivek Kundra’s vision and insight, in his own words:
“And think about this, I know there are people on Second Life right now, but imagine a Universe where you have the Star-Trek holodeck where you could literally ask the computer, err, to act or ask questions to get answers. In the same way, if you look at some of these software companies they’ve made it sooo complicated to interact with their technologies. Ah and, err, at the same time the underlying architecture and the platform, it’s almost a chicken and egg question because alot of it was built and architected around bandwidth constraints therefore you had to deploy technologies that were much more complicated in terms of interacting and communicating. Now, as broadband deployment, and more importantly, err, if you look at the megabits-per-second, err, how much, err, how much information can we get through the pipeline is going to be so important and, as new and new software and techologies are being introduced, what you going to see is huuuge-change from how applications are architected from skip-logic to video and much more human ways of interacting with these applications rather than, err, binary or COBOL ways of interacting.”
#9 happened multiple times after the whole Sony PlayStation network fiasco. There were thousands of attempts to access my email accounts using the password for my Sony account. They weren’t the same, so they never got in, but SOP at both companies is to make a schmuck change his password every time it recognizes an attempt. Sounds reasonable till the hundredth time you have to change your password just to see your mail.
Well he’s an idiot..next subject…ROFL!
#26 – Well, that helps. O’Bama hired a Star Trek Convention reject to take the IT reins of our country. Wonder if he wore his Spock ears to work?
“architected”?????
Makes sense and the government should be first in line for cloud computing. It’s where large enterprises are going if not already there.
Glad to see the Obama administration hired someone to revamp the piece of shit, Western Union style managed by Cheney through his fax machine.
Great ! Now hackers will CONTROL THE GOVERNMENT !!! Expect BREATHLESSLY STUNNING EMBEZZLEMENTS !!! And total GOVERNMENT SHUT-DOWN – NO REPUBLICANS NECESSARY – WHEN THE CLOUD GOES BLUE SCREEN !!! ARGH !!!
No more have you to worry that the government will stop due to lack of congress’ permission to raise the debt ceiling. Vivek will stop it for them.
#29 You forgot to add rabid macfan as per his words.
#30 Pathetic sheep. It would also be cool if all your data was made public. Idiot!
I have three email accounts. One for work and one with two other venders one of which is google. As soon as I got the google account I got a couple of pieces of pure spam but since I hadn’t used the account except as a drop box to send stuff to myself for later use I’m not clear on how they got my address and nobody is now sending me spam to that account.
I have one legacy account with the original pass word and while it should have been hacked a long time ago that does not appear to have occurred.
The fastest way to get past my work pass word would, in theory, be to get a warrant. I followed the rules and I have updated it.
#32 I’m sure you’re quietly impressed with President Obama’s team of experts to revamp the piece of shit, swiss cheese security system left over from the Cheney regime.
Even Thomas Edison rolled his eyes when he met Cheney.
STATEMENT:
“Tapping cloud computing services, Mr. Kundra said, could save the government an additional $5 billion a year, reducing the need for individual government agencies to buy their own software and hardware.”
And what software to create the documents/information/transaction?
THE SAME you are already using…
What software to SHIP it to the cloud and keep it organized?
MORE of the SAME you are already using..
Security?? MORE then what you have NOW..
SERVERS?? I hope you have your own DEDICATED SERVERS…otherwise it will cost MORE.. Backup and Storage and REDUNDANCY???
I love computer illiterates, TRYING to think better ideas then Computer geeks.
DO YOU REALLY WANT SAVINGS??
GOTO LINUX… Make a few customizations and its safer then ALL OF WINDOWS or Mac.
#35 Not to be disrespectful but Mr Kundra was
* awarded tNational Cyber Security Leadership Award for uncovering >$300M each year in wasted federal spending by the Cheney Administration
* Information Officer of Year InformationWeek
* InfoWorld top 25 CTO’s in the country.
* MIT Sloan CIO Symposium Award Finalist
* Harvard awarded the Innovations in American Government Award
Whereas you are a buffoon on Dvorak.org
While the vast majority of computer users both inside and outside government agencies are clueless regarding security, there are many, many people behind the scenes with the necessary knowledge and skills to prevent this from becoming the fiasco predicted here.
I’m talking about the crew-cut guy (and his distaff counterpart) who, in the old days would have worn a slide rule case on his belt and a pocket protector and probably still has one or more of each in a box in the garage. These people know each other, and know who in their organization (whether government agency or contractor) has the chops and who doesn’t.
I’m not saying there won’t be problems — you can’t turn the “Ship of State” on a dime, and there are bound to be snafus, but not on the scale predicted by the dogmatic anti-government-in-any-and-all-forms types.
#36 Do not confuse him with you. YOU are the buffoon here
He is an “ass-clown”.
Most of our government walks around with their heads in the clouds, anyway.
Why not move the rest of it there?