A case for DoD application of public cloud computing services

Cloud computing offers tremendous opportunities for private industry, governments, and even individuals to access massive amounts of compute resources on-demand at very low cost. Recent advancements in bandwidth availability, virtualization, security services and general public awareness have contributed to this information technology (IT) business model. Cloud computing provides on-demand scalability, reduces costs, decreases barriers to entry, and enables organizations to refocus on core competencies. Despite the benefits, security concerns are still the dominant barriers to cloud service adoption. This article explores public cloud computing from a Department of Defense (DoD) perspective. The objective is to improve the general understanding, analyze security issues, and present recommendations to the DoD to help foster public cloud computing adoption.