{ "id": "R42887", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R42887", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 444346, "date": "2015-08-14", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:35:53.512155", "title": "Overview and Issues for Implementation of the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative: Implications for Federal Information Technology Reform Management", "summary": "Congressional Research Service\n7-5700\nwww.crs.gov\nR42887\nSummary\nCloud computing is a new name for an old concept: the delivery of computing services from a remote location, analogous to the way electricity, water, and other utilities are provided to most customers. Cloud computing services are delivered through a network, usually the Internet. Some cloud services are adaptations of familiar applications, such as e-mail and word processing. Others are new applications that never existed as a local application, such as online maps and social networks. \nSince 2009, the federal government has been shifting its data storage needs to cloud-based services and away from agency-owned data centers. This shift is intended to reduce the total investment by the federal government in information technology (IT) (data centers), as well as realize other stated advantages of cloud adoption: efficiency, accessibility, collaboration, rapidity of innovation, reliability, and security. \nIn December 2010, the U.S. Chief Information Officer (CIO) released \u201cA 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management\u201d as part of a comprehensive effort to increase the operational efficiency of federal technology assets. One element of the 25-Point Plan is for agencies to shift to a \u201cCloud First\u201d policy, which is being implemented through the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy. The Cloud First policy means that federal agencies must (1) implement cloud-based solutions whenever a secure, reliable, and cost-effective cloud option exists; and (2) begin reevaluating and modifying their individual IT budget strategies to include cloud computing.\nHowever, there are challenges facing agencies as they make this shift. For example, some agency CIOs have stated that in spite of the stated security advantages of cloud computing, they are, in fact, concerned about moving their data from their data centers, which they manage and control, to outsourced cloud services. This and other concerns must be addressed to build an agency culture that trusts the cloud.\nCongress has a number of means to monitor the status of the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative (FCCI). Individual committees may wish to monitor agencies under their jurisdiction by holding hearings; requesting review of an agency\u2019s status through the agency itself or a GAO study; and/or assessing an agency\u2019s progress and projected goals against the stated goals of the FCCI.\nContents\nIntroduction\t1\nWhat Is Cloud Computing?\t1\nCharacteristics of Cloud Computing\t2\nDeployment Models\t2\nPublic\t2\nPrivate\t3\nCommunity\t3\nHybrid\t3\nDeployment Model Comparison and Use by Federal Agencies\t3\nService Models\t4\nSoftware as a Service (SaaS)\t4\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS)\t4\nInfrastructure as a Service (IaaS)\t4\nService Model Comparison\t5\nService Model Use and Adoption by Federal Agencies\t5\nConsiderations in Cloud Computing Adoption\t5\nCost\t6\nEnergy Efficiency\t7\nAvailability\t8\nAgility\t9\nSecurity\t9\nThe Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act\t11\nReliability\t11\nPrivacy\t12\nTrends in Total Federal Investment in Information Technology\t13\nFederal Planning and Activity\t14\n25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management\t14\nFederal Cloud Computing Strategy\t14\nFederal Cloud Computing Strategy: Supporting and Complementary Initiatives, Programs, and Committees\t16\nAgency Cloud Adoption: Status\t19\nSeptember 2014 Government Accountability Office Report\t19\nSeptember 2014 InformationWeek Survey\t19\nAgency Cloud Adoption: Challenges\t20\nAgency Cloud Adoption: Drivers\t20\nImplementation of the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative: Options for Oversight by Congress\t21\nHearings\t21\nReview of Agency Cloud Computing Plans and Implementation Assessments\t22\nReview of External Status Reports\t22\n\nFigures\nFigure 1.Survey Results: Current and Target Cloud Adoption Percentages in Federal Agencies\t5\nFigure 2. Survey Results: Current and Target Cloud Adoption Percentages in Federal Agencies\t13\n\nTables\nTable 1. Agency CIO Responsibilities Under the 25-Point Plan\t15\n\nContacts\nAuthor Contact Information\t22\n\nIntroduction\nSince 2009, the federal government has been shifting its data storage needs to cloud-based services and away from agency-owned, in-house data centers. This shift is intended to reduce the total investment by the federal government in information technology (IT) (data centers), as well as realize other stated advantages of cloud adoption: efficiency, accessibility, collaboration, rapidity of innovation, reliability, and security. However, there are challenges facing agencies as they make this shift. For example, some agency chief information officers (CIOs) have stated that in spite of the stated security advantages of cloud computing, they are, in fact, concerned about moving their data from their data centers, which they manage and control, to outsourced cloud services. This and other concerns must be addressed to build an agency culture that trusts the cloud.\nThis report explains what cloud computing is, including cloud deployment models and service models, discusses issues that should be considered when adopting cloud services, and presents the federal government\u2019s planning for IT reform. It also provides information on assessments that have been conducted on agency cloud adoption and discusses both the challenges and drivers of cloud adoption. Finally, the report provides possible mechanisms for Congress to monitor agencies as they implement cloud computing.\nWhat Is Cloud Computing?\nCloud computing is a new name for an old concept: the delivery of computing services from a remote location, analogous to the way electricity, water, and other utilities are provided to most customers. Cloud computing services are delivered through a network, usually the Internet. Utilities are also delivered through networks, whether the electric grid, water delivery systems, or other distribution infrastructure. In some ways, cloud computing is reminiscent of computing before the advent of the personal computer, where users shared the power of a central mainframe computer through video terminals or other devices. Cloud computing, however, is much more powerful and flexible, and information technology advances may permit the approach to become ubiquitous. \nSome cloud services are adaptations of familiar applications, such as e-mail and word processing. Others are new applications that never existed as a local application, such as online maps and social networks. It is clearly different from local computing in which local machines perform most tasks and store the relevant data. \nAs cloud computing has developed, specific descriptions of what it is and what it is not have been varied and sometimes nebulous. Such ambiguity can create uncertainties that may impede innovation and adoption. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has tried to clear up that ambiguity by devising the following definition: \nCloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.\nThe first sentence of the definition basically states that cloud computing is a way of providing convenient, flexible access to a broad range of computing resources over a network. The characteristics and models referred to in the second sentence provide the specificity necessary to clarify what cloud computing is and is not.\nCharacteristics of Cloud Computing\nCloud computing differs from local computing in many ways. NIST has identified five characteristics in particular: \nOn-demand self-service: A user can directly access the needed computing capabilities from the source, no matter what specific resource is required. This can be considered somewhat analogous to a homeowner being able to change television channels or radio stations at will with a remote control. \nBroad network access: A user is not tied to one location but can access resources from anywhere the network (typically the Internet) is available.\nResource pooling: Many users share the same overall set of resources from a provider, using what they need, without having to concern themselves with where those resources originate. An analogy with respect to the electric grid is that homeowners do not need to know what specific power plants generated the electricity they are using. \nRapid elasticity: Users can quickly increase or decrease their use of a computing resource in response to their immediate needs. An analogy would be homeowners using as little or as much electricity at any one time as they need, within the capacity of their connections to the grid.\nMeasured service: The amount of usage by a customer is monitored by the provider and can be used for billing or other purposes. An analogy is metering the use of electricity, water, and other utilities. \nDeployment Models\nNIST has identified four standard models, or types, of cloud computing that can be implemented to satisfy varying needs of users or providers. Those models\u2014public, private, community, and hybrid\u2014vary in where the hardware is located, what entity is responsible for maintaining the system, and who can use system resources. \nPublic\nIn public cloud (sometimes called an external cloud) computing, a provider supplies one or more cloud-computing services to a large group of independent customers, such as the general public. Customers use the service over the Internet through web browsers or other software applications. Providers usually sell those services on a metered basis, an approach that is sometimes called \u201cutility computing.\u201d Some common examples of services using a public cloud model include Internet backup and file synchronization and web-based media services. Public clouds may have price and flexibility advantages over other deployment models, but security and other concerns could restrict federal use.\nPrivate\nA private cloud (sometimes called an internal cloud) works like public cloud computing, but on a private network controlled and used by a single organization. Private clouds may provide services that are similar to those provided by public cloud providers, but with fewer purported risks. Potential disadvantages include cost and logistical challenges associated with purchasing and managing the required hardware and software. Private clouds can provide internal services such as data storage as well as external services to the public or other users. \nCommunity\nA community cloud allows a group of organizations with similar requirements to share infrastructure, thereby potentially realizing more of the benefits of public cloud computing than is possible with a purely private cloud. Because a community cloud has a much smaller user base than a public cloud, it may be more expensive to establish and operate, but it may also allow for more customization to meet the users\u2019 needs. It may also meet user-specific security and other requirements more effectively than a public cloud. \nHybrid\nA hybrid cloud uses a combination of internal (private or community) and external (public) providers. For example, a user could employ a private or community cloud to provide applications and store current data but use a public cloud for archiving data. The flexibility of this deployment model may make it particularly attractive to many organizations. \nDeployment Model Comparison and Use by Federal Agencies\nIn many ways, private-cloud computing may be easier to implement for federal agencies than public-cloud computing, especially where agencies already use data centers extensively. It raises fewer concerns than other deployment models about the security and control of data, which can be significant obstacles to broad federal adoption. A challenge would be ensuring that benefits such as net cost savings are actually realized, given the potential expense of initial investment. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for example, provides a number of services to department components via a private cloud, while providing others through a public cloud.\nService Models\nCloud computing can provide various kinds of services, ranging from fundamental computing to provision of sophisticated applications. While they can be categorized in different ways, the NIST definition uses three basic service models, which are described below.\nSoftware as a Service (SaaS)\nIn the SaaS model, customers use applications that the provider supplies and makes available remotely on demand, rather than using applications installed on a local workstation or server. SaaS is the most readily visible service model to the end user. In many cases, SaaS applications are accessible through hardware or software \u201cthin clients.\u201d They include web-based services such as Google Maps and Facebook, online storage, and services such as Paypal that websites can integrate into their applications. \nPlatform as a Service (PaaS)\nWith PaaS, customers create applications on the provider\u2019s infrastructure using tools, such as programming languages, supplied by the provider. One example of such an application is using PaaS to create a web-based interface for customers. Such a platform could include hosting capability and development tools to facilitate building, testing, and launching a web application. The user controls the applications created via the platform, and the provider controls and maintains the underlying infrastructure, including networks, servers, and platform upgrades. \nInfrastructure as a Service (IaaS)\nIaaS providers supply fundamental computing resources that customers can use however they wish. Customers can install, use, and control whatever operating systems and applications they wish, as they might otherwise do on desktop computers or local servers. The provider maintains the underlying cloud infrastructure. \nService Model Comparison\nA simple local-computing analogy for these three kinds of services would be the purchase of a desktop computer, which serves as infrastructure on which the user installs a chosen operating system such as Windows or Linux and uses it as a platform to create custom applications and run whatever commercial software is needed. By providing these services remotely, the cloud provider frees the customer from providing local infrastructure and support for them. In the case of IaaS, the user need not even have a local workstation, using instead a thin client with little embedded computing power.\nService Model Use and Adoption by Federal Agencies\nAccording to a 2014 survey of 153 federal IT officials, the use of different deployment models within the government varies among the service models. Additionally, the survey found that agencies were not transitioning to the cloud as quickly as they had anticipated.\n Figure 1.Survey Results: Current and Target Cloud Adoption\nPercentages in Federal Agencies\n/\n Source: MeriTalk.\nConsiderations in Cloud Computing Adoption\nDecisions in both the public and private sector regarding whether and how to use cloud computing involve consideration of several factors, notably cost, efficiency, accessibility, agility of improvements, security, reliability, and privacy.\nCost\nThe potential financial benefits from cloud computing arise largely from the capability of this approach to provide far more efficient use of IT resources. Most commercial cloud services involve a different payment and cost model than local computing. Cloud providers make infrastructure investments that can lower cost barriers for IT end users, who can access services requiring expensive hardware or software without having to invest in it. Users pay only for the computing power that they consume. This approach to pricing is sometimes referred to as the \u201cutility computing model\u201d because of its similarity to how utilities such as electricity, water, and gas are provisioned. The model allows on-demand scalability that can meet a user\u2019s peak service requirements without the user having to invest in infrastructure to meet such requirements. Such peak demand may be periodic, as in the case of seasonal changes in use, or episodic, as in the case of a software developer needing temporary increases in computing capability for application development or testing.\nWith local IT, in contrast, users must acquire and maintain sufficient hardware, software, and other local resources, such as personnel, to provide for usage that varies over time, often in an unpredictable way. For example, even on most desktop computers, much of the memory and hard drive, and many applications, are usually idle. With cloud computing, in contrast, users need not invest in resources that will often remain idle, but can acquire and pay for services only as they use them. According to some economic analyses, cloud computing using a public cloud can produce savings over local computing when demand for a service varies significantly over time or cannot be predicted. Another potential financial benefit of cloud computing is the savings that cloud providers may realize from locating facilities in areas with lower-than-average energy and labor costs. \nIn addition, cloud computing shifts some financial risks from the user to the provider. For example, if a new application that requires significant computing power proves unsuccessful, the implementing business or government agency would lose only the cost of the cloud services required, rather than the major investment in local IT that would have been required to provide the equivalent computing power. \nIn at least some cases, however, costs associated with cloud computing may outweigh potential financial benefits. One commonly cited cost is migration. If a user needs to move resources such as data from its own local facilities to those of the cloud provider, there will be a cost for such migration. That cost will depend on a number of factors, such as the size of the resources being moved, the method by which they are moved, and whether the resources will need to be modified. Such costs are also a consideration with respect to a potential move from one cloud provider to another. If a provider uses a nonstandard, proprietary platform, that would likely increase the cost of switching to another provider.\nThe potential economic benefits of cloud computing are also expected to vary depending on the deployment model. Use of a public cloud is thought to create greater savings in general than use of a private cloud. Presumably, that is because the former can take more advantage of economies of scale and other efficiencies, and is more subject to the effects of market competition. In addition, costs associated with inefficient use of local IT may be transferred to the cloud environment in some cases. For example, some organizations that maintained unused software in their local environments have retained similar software in switching to SaaS, incurring the costs associated with that inefficiency. \nAlthough most observers appear to believe that cloud computing can offer substantial economic benefits, attempts to project the cost advantages vary widely, with cloud services estimated to cost anywhere from 10% to 250% as much as local IT, but with most estimates projecting savings of at least 50%. The large variation appears to reflect uncertainties arising not only from imperfect understanding of the economics of cloud computing in general, but also from variations in need and circumstance among potential users and uses. For example, a large organization that has a highly efficient data center may not benefit economically by moving it to a public cloud, whereas a small one might benefit. Also, migration costs are likely to vary among different local computing environments. Some observers also have expressed skepticism about the accuracy of analyses purporting to show significant cost advantages, cautioning that they may be outdated or incomplete. \nEnergy Efficiency\nComputers, servers, and related devices require large amounts of energy to manufacture, and they account for a growing share of world energy consumption. \u201cGreen computing\u201d is often cited as a potential benefit of cloud computing. It makes heavy use of data centers, which can be specifically designed for efficient power usage and cooling. Taking advantage of economies of scale, cloud computing can potentially deliver computing power to many users much more efficiently than would be possible with local computing. Google has projected that a small office of 50 workers would use only 1% as much energy per user if it used Gmail cloud-based e-mail service rather than relying on local servers, although this level of savings is diminished for larger businesses.\nBy using a utility business model, cloud computing can provide incentives for efficient use of computing resources. Users pay only for the power they consume, and thus have an incentive to consume only what they need. \nDespite such potential, cloud computing is not necessarily inherently efficient. According to some analyses, typical measures taken by providers to ensure reliability can be energy inefficient or have other negative environmental effects. More generally, to the extent that innovations arising from cloud computing result in increased demand for computing resources, cloud computing could drive an increase in overall use of information technology, just as the advent of the personal computing led to such an increase.\nAlso, potential benefits and costs may vary among users, depending on their particular needs. A Department of Energy (DOE) report on its Magellan project, which was designed to investigate the potential of cloud computing to meet the department\u2019s scientific computing needs, concluded that switching from the current non-cloud approach to public- or private-cloud computing would be more expensive and no more efficient, in part because of the special needs associated with scientific computing. \nAvailability\nCloud computing may provide both advantages and disadvantages with respect to availability. It can improve availability by using Internet connectivity to provide mobile computing services, so that users can access data and applications wherever they can get an Internet connection. Its flexible capacity and scalability can also reduce the risk of downtime for a website or other service. Scalable cloud hosting sources may also make web-based services more resilient to denial of service and similar cyberattacks. \nReliance on the Internet for cloud computing means that, in contrast to local computing, an Internet connection failure would prevent a user from accessing computing services. In contrast, a local network could still function. Loss of Internet access could be especially significant if users rely on thin clients, which may not have sufficient computing power to run applications locally in the event of a connection failure. Nevertheless, Internet outages are commonly thought to be far less common than outages of local networks, and even that risk can be reduced, for example by use of more than one provider.\nEffective use of cloud computing depends on access to high-speed Internet or mobile telecommunications. Such broadband access is not evenly distributed within the United States. Rural access is significantly lower than that in urban areas, resulting in much greater access to cloud services in cities. If the use of cloud computing accessed through thin clients continues to grow in market share, that \u201cdigital divide\u201d between areas with and without high-speed network access could become more pronounced. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) included $7.2 billion for expansions to rural broadband infrastructure, and some other countries have devoted resources to facilitate ubiquitous access to high speed Internet.\nAgility\nCloud computing can be more agile than local computing in at least two ways. It can permit faster and more efficient implementation of upgrades and other technological advances. It can also provide innovators with a broader range of scalable tools for research, development, and testing than they would be able to acquire cost-effectively for a local computing environment. In some ways, agility can be more limited under cloud computing than local computing. Differences among providers may limit portability and interoperability. If a user wishes to switch to a new provider, because of dissatisfaction or some other factor such as the original provider going out of business, portability may be a problem. The platform used by the new provider may require substantial modifications to data or other resources being moved or may even be incompatible. Provider variation may also hinder interoperability, which would be needed, for example, if users wish different providers to supply different services involving a common set of data or applications. This may be less of a problem with local computing, which usually employs standard hardware and software platforms so that data and applications can be used by different persons or moved to new hardware without a need for significant modification. These limitations might be addressed in the future by the creation and adoption of appropriate portability and interoperability standards for cloud computing.\nCloud computing may also be less capable than local computing in creating and implementing some specialized applications, such as in scientific research. For example, DOE\u2019s report on its Magellan project found that cloud computing did not meet several requirements for the kinds of scientific data and applications used in research and development (R&D) at the department.\nSecurity\nSome aspects of security in cloud computing are similar to those with local computing involving local networks. Both are potentially subject to attacks aimed at service disruption or theft of information, including espionage. Both are subject to threats from the Internet and from insiders. Vulnerabilities specific to particular operating systems and other applications need to be addressed whether those applications are provided through cloud or local computing. \nHowever, some aspects of cloud computing have security implications that differ substantially from those for local computing. Differences in security of cloud and local computing mirror the differences between concentrated versus distributed resources in general. Thus, the economies of scale associated with cloud computing can permit providers to invest much more effectively in security than most users could with local computing. But such concentration of computing resources also makes cloud providers more inviting targets for potential attackers and increases the potential impact of an attack. With local computing, each user constitutes a point of attack that must be defended separately, but the impact of an attack is generally limited to that user. With cloud computing, both the points of attack and the defenses are concentrated, as is the value of the target.\nSome other security issues are more specific to cloud computing. For example, the sharing of computing resources by different customers that permits the economies of scale in cloud computing creates unique security requirements associated with that multi-tenancy. Also, use of a public cloud provider creates a potential for ambiguity in how to assign security responsibilities to the provider and to the user. The user\u2019s data and other resources are housed off-site and are therefore under the control of the cloud provider\u2014the owner of the data effectively cedes control of it to the provider, and possibly even a third party that the cloud provider might use.\nIn addition to direct concerns, other security-related factors may need to be considered. For example, the degree of legal protection afforded to information in the cloud may be significantly lower if it is stored in a public cloud rather than on a local computer. In addition, information could potentially be stored on servers in countries other than that in which the customer resides, thereby potentially subjecting the information to different or even conflicting legal requirements for privacy and auditability. Within the United States, different federal laws apply to different kinds of data, for example health and financial information. State requirements also vary.\nThe Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act\nIn December 2014, the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) was signed into law (P.L. 113-291). The law is intended to improve and streamline the federal IT acquisition process. With respect to cloud computing, as well as data center consolidation, FITARA requires agencies to adhere to federal guidelines, including applicable FedRAMP provisions and other guidance published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.\nReliability\nServices hosted in the cloud may be distributed among several different data centers. That distribution can potentially improve reliability over use of only a local data center, especially if combined with redundancy. However, there have been cases in recent years of downtime at the IaaS level that caused widespread service interruptions. Despite the publicity such disruptions received, service downtimes in cloud computing have been rare, and many observers consider cloud hosting to be more reliable than local hosting. \nNIST has also raised the issue of the service-level agreements (SLAs) that customers sign when procuring cloud services. While reliability is a key element addressed by practically every SLA, how it is defined, what is being measured, and the associated guarantees vary. These leave customers to evaluate different SLAs with cloud providers that may define reliability using different\u2014\nterms (uptime, resilience, or availability);\nresources (servers, HVAC systems, customer support);\ntime periods (hours, days, years); and \nrisk guarantees (response time versus resolution time).\nPrivacy\nPrivacy is a concern, especially for public and hybrid cloud services. The greater direct control that private clouds give to users over hardware and software may provide them more control over management of privacy. \nEstablishing an effective and appropriate legal structure for regulating cloud computing services is imperative, as cloud usage is expected to represent more than half of all Internet use by the end of this decade. Globally, advances in technology services such as cloud computing paired with how those services are used by consumers have increased the difficulty of maintaining the appropriate legal balance between individual rights and the needs of law enforcement. As the depth and breadth with which consumers incorporate cloud services into their daily lives increases, the need for balance becomes even more important, but also more difficult to attain.\nIn the United States, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) governs the privacy of electronic communications. However, ECPA leaves gaps in how to treat certain now commonly used services, such as web-based e-mail and documents created and stored in the cloud (e.g., Google Docs); such services had not been created, nor even conceived, when the law was enacted. Many contend that ECPA is a difficult law to understand and apply, in part because the law is old and relies on a model of electronic mail and Internet activity that is generations behind current practice and technology. It is extremely difficult to interpret or predict the privacy protections available under ECPA for the wide range of cloud computing activities. Companies offering communications and remote storage services (which were in their infancy in 1986), consumers, and law enforcement all seek uniformity in the law, but do not agree on how those changes should be made.\nTrends in Total Federal Investment in Information Technology\nThe FY2016 planned IT spending is estimated to be $86.4 billion. Annual federal investment in information technology increased at 7.1% annually between 2001 and 2009. Since that time, that growth has slowed to 1.5%. Total annual spending from FY2001 to FY2016, along with the percent difference from the previous year is shown in Figure 2.\nFigure 2. 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