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ENABLING AN INTERCONNECTED GOVERNMENT

TRANSFORMING DATA CENTERS INTO CLOUD ECOSYSTEMS

TABLE OF CONTENTS | 2

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Executive summary .......................................................................................3

Introduction ....................................................................................................4

Journey to the cloud ......................................................................................5

The cloud ecosystem .....................................................................................7

The power of proximity ..................................................................................8

Benefits of an interconnected government ....................................................9

Conclusion ................................................................................................... 11

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | 3

The federal government has struggled to quantify the number of data centers it operates. After launching a 2010 initiative to consolidate federally owned and operated data centers, the numbers actually went up when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expanded the definition of data center to include not just dedicated server facilities, but small server rooms and IT closets.

But it has never been just a numbers game about facilities. While the growing number and cost of federal data centers raised alarms, the ultimate objective behind consolidation mandates is to provide better government services, using platforms and technologies that can be operated more efficiently, more securely and more cost effectively.

As the private sector began venturing to the cloud—to support the growth of more mobile and social users, to create more flexible service delivery models, to protect their growing digital arsenal of business-critical assets, and to optimize operational and IT efficiencies while shifting costs from capital expenditures (CAPEX) to operational expenditures (OPEX)—the federal government took notice. The 2011 “Federal Cloud Computing Strategy” advocated a Cloud-First policy to take advantage of the cloud’s “tremendous potential to deliver public value by increasing operational efficiency and responding faster to constituent needs.”1 The expectation shifted from waiting until legacy systems were due to be modernized or replaced to considering cloud solutions first “whenever a secure, reliable and cost-effective option exists regardless of where the investment is in its lifecycle.”2

Although a number of factors contributed to a slower-than-expected adoption of cloud technologies in government, industry analysts are beginning to predict an acceleration in federal cloud spending in the next few years. The increasing focus on digital transformation in government agencies is driving new demand for the “platform layer” of digital services. For a 21st century digital government, the platform layer includes all the systems and processes used to manage digital information.3 Data centers can be part of this platform layer, but only if a different kind of data center is envisioned and embraced: one that operates as part of a digital ecosystem, shifting the fundamental delivery architecture of IT from siloed and centralized to distributed and interconnected.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 “Federal Cloud Computing Strategy,” February 2011 2 GAO-16-323, “Data Center Consolidation: Agencies Making Progress but Planned Savings Goals Need to be Established” 3 “Digital Government, Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People,” May 2012

Deltek Federal Industry Analysis predicts that federal cloud spending will reach $6.5 billion by 2019.

INTRODUCTION | 4

Traditional IT infrastructures were built for a different time in government history. They are in conflict with many of the core requirements of modern day computing, most urgently the need to interconnect more people, locations, clouds and data. Today, digital transformation is driving the distribution of services and controls closer to customers, employees, partners and ecosystems. The next phase of the digital economy will exponentially increase the world’s connectivity expectations, requirements and opportunities. To meet demand for highly reliable, secure and innovative services, along with the requirements of an increasingly mobile workforce and ever-present budget pressures, government has begun a journey of IT modernization and digital transformation. The speed and difficulty of that journey will depend on its ability to find a path that leverages disruptive technologies, such as cloud computing, without disturbing the ability of agency personnel to deliver on their core missions.

INTRODUCTION

JOURNEY TO THE CLOUD | 5

Government agencies have had difficulty escaping the legacy of systems built over decades, and the exponential growth in information produced and collected by government led to a historic rise in federally owned and operated data centers. In 2015, just 24 federal agencies were operating a total of 10,584 data centers.4 Cost and energy savings were among the primary drivers for closing or optimizing these facilities, but it was the added motivation to simultaneously improve government services that compelled government IT leaders to push for a move to cloud environments. The 2011 “Federal Cloud Computing Strategy” estimated that $20 billion of the government’s $80 billion in IT spending could be migrated to cloud solutions.5

When the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was directed to assess agency progress in implementing cloud services, its September 2014 study revealed that government cloud adoption was lagging behind expectations.6 GAO’s report found that agencies had not considered cloud computing services for about 67% of their investments, in large part because these legacy systems were not specifically due to be modernized or replaced. GAO pointed out that this was inconsistent with OMB’s 2011 “Cloud-First” policy requiring consideration of cloud-based services whenever there was a secure, reliable and cost-effective option.

This challenge to include and assess all IT investments under a cloud-first directive has been one of a number of obstacles to faster cloud adoption within government. Security concerns often top any list of factors, which also include:

• the decentralized structure of technology across various levels of government

• lengthy procurement processes

• complexities in identifying and then managing an appropriate migration path to the cloud

• issues of data governance/control

• lack of insight into vendor technologies and capabilities coupled with concern about vendor lock-in

Especially as cloud services and cloud providers proliferate, it can be difficult for government IT leaders to find a solution that meets all of their needs and requirements within the roadmap/timeframe they have mapped out. Or just getting started can be a problem if agency IT personnel struggle to find the time or lack the expertise to determine which workloads should be moved to the cloud or how to effectively implement hybrid or multicloud scenarios. Email and collaboration tools have proved simple to migrate with little to no disruption in service, but when complex or sensitive applications portfolios are involved, understandably, risk-averse agency leaders have moved more slowly.

But despite a disappointing start that pegged federal cloud adoption rates between 2%–4% of total IT spending in 2014, recent analyst projections are optimistic that the pace will accelerate in the next few years. Deltek Federal Industry Analysis predicts a 21% compound annual growth rate in federal spending on cloud, reaching $6.5 billion by 2019.7

The vision for a digital government, detailed in the presidential memorandum, “Digital Government, Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People,” identifies cloud computing as one of the foundations needed for the “platform layer” of its model for digital services.8 But the cloud exists in many forms, so determining the best approach for each agency’s situation requires not only domain knowledge of government IT portfolios, but the ability to interconnect a dense network of providers in a neutral environment that eliminates the roadblocks on the journey toward the cloud and the digital transformation of government.

JOURNEY TO THE CLOUD

4 GAO-16-323, “Data Center Consolidation: Agencies Making Progress but Planned Savings Goals Need to be Established” 5 “Federal Cloud Computing Strategy,” February 2011 6 GAO-14-753, “Cloud Computing: Additional Opportunities and Savings Need to Be Pursued,” http://gao.gov/products/GAO-14-753 7 “From Promise to Reality: How Local, State and Federal Government Agencies Achieve Results in the Cloud,” Forbes Insights, 2015 8 “Digital Government, Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People,” May 2012

JOURNEY TO THE CLOUD | 6

Hybrid and multicloud models that let agencies leverage existing IT infrastructure alongside public and private cloud environments have gained attention and traction in recent years. Many of the government use cases take advantage of the cost-effectiveness, efficiency, innovation and even enhanced security levels available in cloud computing, while managing risk with the right on-premises/off-premises balance:

• Data analytics on demandGovernment big data analysts or researchers who rely on massive data sets to produce information demanded by agency decision-makers or the public sometimes need to wait days or weeks to schedule computing time for data analytics. By integrating on-premises computers with pay-per-use cloud computing resources in a seamless user experience, agencies can shave wait times down to a fraction of an hour

• Distributing applications to usersAggregation of large data sets (e.g., video, biometric, geospatial) from widely distributed geographic locations traditionally means transmitting data using long-haul MPLS, which results in a poor user experience. With smaller footprints in more geographically-dispersed collection points, connected to the cloud for computing power, agencies can decrease latency, improve reliability and reduce network costs

• Internet of EverythingMobility and the Internet of Things are driving demand for new digital products and services from government, and rapid innovation is expected. By integrating existing systems with various cloud platforms that can seamlessly share data, agencies can provide the type of user experiences that rival those available in the private sector

• Bringing the cloud to the dataWith a hybrid-cloud architecture, agencies can keep sensitive data in secure data centers where they retain ownership of security standards and policies. By putting the processing power on a cloud-based front end and bypassing the public internet with a direct connection from the agency network to the cloud, agencies can comply with security or regulatory mandates while still remaining accessible and retaining control

• Disaster recovery and continuity of operationsUnplanned outages occur for reasons as routine as human error or hardware failure and as extreme as natural disasters or acts of terrorism. Simple and cost-effective geographic distribution of disaster recovery sites or mix-and-match cloud services give agencies the redundancy and resiliency they need to support mission-critical operations

• Multicloud flexibilityThe physical location of data storage can be a barrier to access. Connecting that storage to the cloud lets agencies leverage the scalability of cloud computing while maintaining data governance. A multicloud environment takes that one step further, introducing the ability to seamlessly compute from multiple cloud providers or to easily migrate data from one cloud to another

When agencies start using numerous cloud providers with applications, data and services residing on different platforms, there is potential for added complexity and additional security vulnerabilities. Simplicity and security depend on management all of the interconnections among cloud providers, which can only be accomplished in a cloud ecosystem.

THE CLOUD ECOSYSTEM | 7

As government agencies are pushed to think more digitally, hybrid and multicloud environments can be seen as a value chain of digitally integrated building blocks combining users, services, capacity and, most of all, connectivity. Traditional IT infrastructure and standalone cloud environments can be equally isolating. Private cloud projects “inside” are limited by that perimeter, and public cloud initiatives “outside” are constrained to commodity functions that have low data sensitivity.

In addition, the more dynamic, interactive and on-demand nature of cloud computing requires low-latency interconnections that are both flexible and agile enough to scale as changing workload capacity requires. This means that connections between users and the cloud need to be in proximity to achieve the on-demand, high performance expected.

As government agencies consider how to address these challenges, some have turned to the public internet by default to connect to clouds only to find that security and performance issues introduce more hurdles. As an alternative to the internet, some explore establishing dedicated links (via MPLS extensions) from their network to each chosen cloud provider. But this is expensive, as more and more connections are required via this method. And this approach can take months to provision and lock agencies in to specific network and cloud providers.

To achieve the promise of digital transformation, an interconnected government must shift to a digital edge strategy, which places strategic control points next to users, clouds and networks to directly and securely connect people, locations, clouds and data. Building this digital edge alongside the largest industry ecosystems on a global interconnection platform like Platform Equinix® allows it to reach everywhere, interconnect everyone and integrate everything. This interconnection-first approach tears down these barriers, enabling digital users to gain access to multiple clouds and consume their services as needed, from any location or any device. The network perimeter is erased and a multicloud interconnection fabric extends out to the edge, where users can gain immediate access to regional clouds, government clouds and global super-cloud providers, along with service and technology providers.

This paradigm accelerates a new level of interconnection to the multicloud environment through:

Interconnected cloudsEnterprises can greatly simplify the complexity that comes from forging connections across multiple cloud ecosystems, regions and network service providers by providing a fast, secure, single point of interconnection to multiple cloud providers. Leveraging this approach, integrated cloud points of presence (PoPs) use virtual connections to deliver direct, secure and cost-effective access to multiple clouds. This enables agencies to build an integrated and interconnected portfolio of cloud-based value/supply chain services (e.g., mobile commerce, media/content delivery, electronic records) and IT execution venues (e.g., web hosting, dedicated servers and storage, collaboration apps).

Embedded securityA direct interconnection fabric bypassing the public internet allows government cloud traffic to extend to the edge of the network, providing transparency across multiple service providers and links. This visibility enables IT organizations to optimize network security services and puts those services closer to users. It also helps the government meet country-based data sovereignty regulations by enabling fast and secure access to locally stored data.

Low cost, fast accessMulticloud interconnection not only encourages competitive pricing, it also allows the government to take advantage of direct, high-speed, low-latency connections to both local and global cloud providers to gain the best service for various types of workloads.

On-demand scalabilityNetwork peering points along a global government backbone provide unlimited scalability. Agencies also gain the agility needed to dynamically scale network bandwidth up or down to consume cloud services on demand as their service and workload requirements change.

Management and analyticsA cloud interconnection API and development environment that is easy to deploy and access gives government agencies better control of multicloud environments and cloud data by enabling them to proactively integrate cloud-based management, operations and data analytics tools into their IT landscape.

THE CLOUD ECOSYSTEM

THE POWER OF PROXIMITY | 8

Gartner’s Edge Manifesto calls for content, compute and data center resources to be placed on the edge of the network close to the largest concentration of users.9 This augmentation of the traditional centralized data center model meets the demands of today’s digital government by ensuring lower latency and a better user experience.

Global distribution of IT infrastructure to locations that are closer to end users is key to maximizing content and application delivery performance. Reducing the number of network “hops” that data goes through can significantly lower latency and increase bandwidth to provide users with a high-performance, “local” quality of experience over a wide-area network.

When it comes to designing a disaster recovery strategy, distance makes a difference. Insufficient distance between disaster recovery sites can leave entire operations vulnerable to a regional storm or outage. Geographically distributed computing environments can keep IT infrastructure intact, even when some components fail. Alternately, a cloud-based disaster recovery plan virtually replicates a computing infrastructure in the cloud, rather than relying on earth-bound backup IT components. Direct and simultaneous connections to multiple cloud providers let agencies mix and match cloud services and create a disaster recovery plan that’s resilient, cost-effective and quickly executed in a crisis.

To fulfill the anticipated acceleration of cloud adoption, government agencies will need flexibility and an easy way to implement hybrid and multicloud environments. This means structuring deployments that let government agencies control where and how they operate network and IT infrastructures so they can deliver faster, more consistent performance, no matter where in the world their end users are. It means finding the highest density of interconnection and connectivity services in a network-neutral environment, where network providers can deliver service to agencies and cloud service providers at competitive prices. It means leveraging existing government contract vehicles so that the speed of innovation enabled by the cloud can be realized. And it means identifying the potential for inter-agency shared services via an interconnection hub that offers the benefits of secure data sharing as well as cloud economies.

THE POWER OF PROXIMITY

9 “The Edge Manifesto: Digital Business, Rich Media, Latency Sensitivity and the Use of Distributed Data Centers,” Gartner, 2015

BENEFITS OF AN INTERCONNECTED GOVERNMENT | 9

A 2015 report by Forbes Insights argues there is strong evidence that cloud adoption among government agencies is fast approaching a tipping point, with “initial concerns around moving to the cloud being countered by real-world government success stories.”10 Examples from government pioneers are demonstrating real and significant cost savings, unprecedented abilities to scale up and down quickly, device agnosticism and even enhanced levels of security. Although each agency has unique mission needs, security requirements and IT landscapes, the benefits of an interconnected government are available to all:

Greater security and compliance

While perceived security issues have been one of the primary barriers to faster cloud adoption in government, there is increasing recognition that the very nature of a cloud ecosystem, with its ability to help correlate and analyze massive data sets, will be key to helping identify security vulnerabilities and threats. More agencies are creating certifications for data security, and more service providers are becoming certified.

By leveraging an interconnection-first approach with direct access to all types of cloud models (public, private, government, community, hybrid), an interconnected cloud ecosystem achieves a level of security that public internet connections to clouds simply cannot provide. An interconnected cloud ecosystem can let agencies retain ownership of their security standards and policies, whether through access to government clouds designed to host sensitive and regulated workloads in the cloud; via hybrid cloud configurations that let agencies maintain control over data in their own data centers; or in a multicloud environment that is designed to minimize points of entry. In addition, API-based cloud connectivity lets agencies place heightened security services closer to users. Local connections to regional cloud services and data center colocations in multiple global locations provide the locality required for regional compliance and the flexibility needed to modify the location of data quickly as regulations change.

Simplify dynamic and automated interconnection

Government agencies always struggle to compete with the private sector for technology talent, and the competition for staff with skills in digital services is only increasing. In Deloitte’s Global Digital Transformation 2015 survey, government agency officials cited workforce/skills as the most challenging dimension of digital change.11

An interconnected cloud ecosystem enables government to simplify network topology, traffic aggregation and management when connecting multiple clouds. Managing direct connectivity to multiple clouds via virtual connections through a single physical port greatly reduces complexity and cost. Automated bandwidth allocation also helps manage capacity issues across multicloud and multi-geography topologies. Reducing the burden of IT asset management lets agencies spend less time managing complex IT resources and more time investing in core mission work.

Fast, scalable connections

Traditional cloud access models, including relying on the public internet or extending existing MPLS networks, can have disappointing performance and high costs. An interconnected cloud ecosystem helps government agencies achieve the fastest, most scalable level of cloud interconnection possible for each specific workload. This creates a high-speed fabric of globally distributed cloud PoPs, expanded out to the digital edge.

BENEFITS OF AN INTERCONNECTED GOVERNMENT

10 “From Promise to Reality: How Local, State and Federal Government Agencies Achieve Results in the Cloud,” Forbes Insights, 2015 11 “The Journey to Government’s Digital Transformation,” Deloitte University Press, 2015

BENEFITS OF AN INTERCONNECTED GOVERNMENT | 10

Multicloud, multi-region accessibility

Federal mandates “to transition to more efficient infrastructure, such as cloud services and inter-agency shared services,” are accelerating the migration to cloud computing environments alongside the closure or optimization of data centers.12 While website hosting, email and collaboration tools have been easy targets for cloud migration, agencies have been slower to move their complex, mission-oriented systems. But it’s these interconnected systems that stand to gain the most from a cloud ecosystem.

An interconnected cloud ecosystem breaks through a centralized and siloed approach to cloud service connectivity, clearing the way for a distributed colocation model of interconnecting multiple clouds. The multi-tenant data center provides a vendor-agnostic home for global and regional cloud service providers, giving government agencies the freedom of choice. And it places them in highly desirable cloud neighborhoods within densely populated metros worldwide, enabling easy, direct access to close-knit ecosystems of global carriers, regional networks and value-chain partners. This helps agencies align their mission and IT service requirements with best-in-class cloud and network providers, no matter where they are.

Simple path to added value and reduced risk

It can take years to build new data centers for new digital services or even months to increase capacity of existing data center services. The “start small” approach enabled by cloud computing lets agencies provision capacity incrementally to develop and test applications with smaller initial investments than traditional IT models allow. At the same time, the nature of some costs changes from being capital investment in hardware and infrastructure (CAPEX) to a pay-as-you go (OPEX) model with the cloud. Within a cloud ecosystem, as the number of interconnections increases, so does the value. The availability of a wide array of competing vendors on a platform that ensures portability also helps agencies minimize risks with purchasing regulations and vendor lock-in.

New avenue for shared services

Just as the Data Center Shared Services Marketplace is envisioned “as the central location where agencies can choose from an inventory of data center services and automated management tools and products to achieve efficiency and cost savings,” an interconnected cloud ecosystem is designed for providers and consumers to come together in a neutral marketplace.13 The government cloud marketplace is maturing, and government agencies are becoming providers as well as consumers of cloud services, opening a new avenue for shared services. In order to fulfill the potential for an interconnected government, this “platform layer” of digital services requires participation by the broadest ecosystem of network and service providers so that agencies can take advantage of all that digital transformation can offer.

12 “Data Center Optimization Initiative,” Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-16-19, August 1, 2016

13 Ibid.

CONCLUSION | 11

Government’s journey to the cloud has been slower than many inside and outside government had hoped. But as more agencies are gaining experience and achieving success with cloud environments, the path is becoming smoother. User demand and opportunities for significant cost savings continue to drive digital transformation initiatives, and cloud computing is being seen as a positive disruptor for the modernization of government IT. But it is the interconnected cloud that holds the real potential to keep government from simply creating more silos in digital form. The fundamental shift toward digital government will push agencies to focus on services rather than assets, which means shifting traditional IT architectures. With the pace and complexity of government missions accelerating, the ability to rapidly apply commercial innovation in hardware, software and services will shape government’s approach to providing better services. In our “interconnected era,” where social, mobile, analytics and cloud loudly stake their claims on the government of the future, government can respond by collaborating in an interconnected cloud ecosystem—a unique platform that is instant, direct, massively scalable, robust, flexible and secure.

About Equinix GovernmentEquinix began as the neutral peering exchange and colocation provider for the major telecom networks, but has evolved to become the optimal global interconnection platform for digital services and scalable cloud. Equinix is the premier cloud ecosystem, with direct access to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud and government clouds. We enable more than 270,000 connections between our customers along with thousands of interconnected cloud and managed IT service providers, where government agencies get all the benefits of the cloud without security concerns, internet performance bottlenecks or the risk of vendor lock-in. Deploying on Platform Equinix, using industry best practices of an interconnection-first approach, agencies gain unmatched choice and flexibility along their journey to the cloud to take control of their digital strategy and build their digital edge.

CONCLUSION

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