Agencies showing more interest in Google Apps

Israel
said federal agencies of all sizes have expressed interest in deploying Google
Apps, a cloud-based suite of software applications that includes the popular
Gmail, Google Calendar, the collaboration program Google Docs and voice and
video chat services. 

Israel
said Google cannot discuss negotations with some of the larger agencies, but
smaller federal offices that have adopted Google Apps include the humanitarian
branch of the Navy and the University of California’s Berkeley Laboratory. To
meet that growing demand, the firm has increased its federal sales team by a
third.

To address
the common questions regarding security and privacy, Israel detailed a number
of changes to Google Apps for government that differs from the consumer
version. For example, the government portion is run on a separate, private
cloud that is given additional physical and network security at Google’s
multiple data centers.

Google has
also committed to maintaining its FISMA certification for the length of all
contracts signed, ensuring agencies will remain in compliance with federal
security requirements without requiring additional personnel or expense. A
separate unit known as the “Data Liberation Front” within the company
works to ensure individuals or organizations that stop using Google’s services
are still able to freely access their data and port it to another software
application.

One of the main benefits of Google Apps or other
cloud-based services — as opposed to agencies’ legacy hardware and software —
is cost; Israel cited a Brookings Institution study
that found agencies generally saved between 25 and 50 percent of costs by
moving applications to the cloud.