In recent articles on the Government Technology Insider, my colleagues Stephen “Smash” Gallagher and Heather Healey introduced readers to the Air Force’s Cloud One platform and explained how user experience plays a critical role in mission success. In the final article of our series, I will take the baton from Smash and Heather and discuss the benefits an integrated, multi-cloud environment provides to the military, and how SAIC overcame the challenges that accompany the cloud integration process to deliver Cloud One to the Air Force.
Each user’s cloud needs can vary based on their mission and requirements. That is why cloud diversity and multi-cloud environments are critical for the Air Force. Through multi-cloud orchestration and integration, military customers can have access to a wide variety of cloud service providers (CSPs) that mission system owners can select from.
In 2020 when SAIC was awarded the Air Force’s Cloud One contract, Cloud One only incorporated Azure and AWS cloud services. Fast forward to today, we now offer enhanced CSP diversity through the addition of Google and Oracle cloud services. In just a few years, we transformed Cloud One from a single-platform hosting model into a mission-ready, integrated multi-cloud environment.
Leveraging a multi-cloud environment adds a level of technical complexity that single-cloud solutions do not have. A multi-cloud approach, particularly for the military, involves various APIs, tools, and security controls that can create operational friction during the cloud integration process.
To achieve this, we worked across providers to ensure that the Air Force’s cloud environments meet the requirements of its cloud strategy. We also ensured that the cloud environments were consistent, secure, and scalable through our delivery model.
Reaping the Benefits of a Multi-Cloud Ecosystem
Each CSP brings something unique to the table. Having access to multiple CSP options through the Cloud One platform enables the Air Force to select the different capabilities, security tools, and applications best suited for a specific mission.
A multi-cloud approach also bolsters mission security and reduces risk. Having mission capabilities and applications spread across multiple cloud environments eliminates the issue of customers having all their cloud “eggs” in one basket.
Working with multi-cloud environments also promotes cloud innovation through CSP competition and prevents customers from being locked into any one specific vendor. However, while leveraging multi-cloud environments can deliver numerous benefits to the military services, integrating multiple cloud providers into a single platform comes with challenges that must be addressed.
Overcoming the Challenges Multi-Cloud Environments Pose
Leveraging a multi-cloud environment adds a level of technical complexity that single-cloud solutions do not have. A multi-cloud approach, particularly for the military, involves various APIs, tools, and security controls that can create operational friction during the cloud integration process.
This process requires an experienced and knowledgeable integrator that understands how to eliminate the operational friction across the environment, eliminate duplicative efforts, and provide consistent security for mission systems. Often, this process needs to occur without complete knowledge of what a mission system owner has been working with when they make the decision to migrate into a cloud environment.
Each CSP brings something unique to the table. Having access to multiple CSP options through the Cloud One platform enables the Air Force to select the different capabilities, security tools, and applications best suited for a specific mission.
Large organizations and military services such as the Air Force bring legacy systems and significant technological debt to the modernization and cloud migration process. They need assistance identifying which cloud provider is best for their legacy systems, and an experienced partner that can migrate their applications into Cloud One in a way that ensures compliance and security. This helps reduce the workload for government teams and accelerates their mission readiness.
As the Air Force continues to evaluate and anticipate their future needs for the Cloud One platform, it needs to consider that cloud integration is not a one-size-fits-all process. Rather, it’s a tailored experience that requires a partner that can meet users where they are, walk them through the process of migrating their applications into Cloud One, and get them up and operating in the most effective way possible.
The organization maintaining and managing the Cloud One platform in the future must provide flexible delivery models, whether it’s migration-as-a-service or hybrid migration, tailored to the maturity and needs of each mission system owner. They must also manage the full technical integration layer, and align the security, asset control, and compliance for all the CSPs.
SAIC’s approach to cloud design and integration has enabled the Cloud One platform to deliver faster time to mission impact. SAIC’s integration and flexible delivery models have supported the rapid and seamless adoption of new applications across the Air Force, while alleviating any burden to mission system owners.
The author, Miguel Rivera, is Program Director for Cloud One at SAIC.