A growing number of state agencies have subscribed to CalCloud over the last year, taking advantage of reduced rates, more services, and improved security, state CIO Carlos Ramos told a legislative panel Wednesday.
Ramos disclosed that 60 government entities have become CalCloud customers, including “some of the biggest and most visible agencies” such as the state Board of Equalization, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Controller’s Office.
The report came at a joint hearing of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee and Accountability and Administrative Review Committee, which convened the oversight hearing after CalCloud was forced last year to revise its strategy because fewer departments had signed up than anticipated.
CalCloud’s rates have been reduced 45 percent overall and security enhanced to reassure departments and lawmakers that key sensitive information held on the cloud would be safeguarded.
California is the first state to apply for a key federal security certification known as the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, Ramos said.
“Government agencies like the idea of government-owned and government-only cloud environment,” he told lawmakers. “There’s less worry about who else is sharing the environment with them.”
By using cloud computing, agencies can share resources and pay only for the resources they consume rather than building an entire enterprise system that can take years to deploy. And smaller departments that have had trouble securing IT systems can benefit from volume pricing and a broader portfolio of services, Ramos added.
At the California Conservation Corps, cloud computing enabled them to deploy an online recruiting system that would have been “too risky to attempt” using traditional procurement models, the agency’s chief information officer Rita Gass said.
While agencies and departments can opt out of using cloud computing, some lawmakers and industry have expressed concerns the state is creating a monopoly that could make it difficult for entities use a different technology that works better for them.
“I’m seeing a preferential right now for CalCloud, and I want to make sure if there is an opportunity to bundle in the private sector that they have every opportunity to be a part of that process,” said Assemblymember Jim Frazier, D-Oakland.
Ramos said dismissed the concern, saying his department would work with agencies if CalCloud doesn’t work for them. At the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, for example, CalCloud is not appropriate for every system even though it is a great tool, said Russ Nichols, director of enterprise information services.
“CalCloud is not always the right answer,” he said.
In an effort to expand its offerings, the state has opened the field to more vendors so they can compete to host services, converting CalCloud from a private cloud into more of a hybrid model.
“The department has come a long way in the last year,” said Stuart McKee, national technology officer for the U.S. public sector at Microsoft, whose Microsoft 365 is now among the new offerings. “We’re very pleased with the progress.”
Introduced in July 2014, CalCloud is a partnership between California and IBM to provide cloud services such as computing, networking and storage from within the Office of Technology Services’ data center.
Specifically, 28 entities now use CalCloud’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), giving them on-demand access to a shared pool of IT resources. That is double the number of subscribers than a year ago, according to the Department of Technology.
The other 32 organizations are customers of Vendor Hosted Subscription Services (VHSS), cloud-based solutions, such as email, hosted by private service providers. Future offerings include offsite backups, disaster recovery and digital/e-signature.
The Department of Technology is receiving two to three requests on a weekly basis for new services, said Chris Cruz, department chief deputy director of operations. More cloud services are being added and the department is going to start to transition the operation and maintenance of cloud computing to state employees.
Government entities also have expressed the desire to make the move to the cloud when their hardware and software needs refreshing or contracts near expiration on legacy systems.
“Down the road, I think we’re going to see more and more agencies move into cloud computing,” Ramos told lawmakers.
Here is a list of CalCloud’s customers and vendors:
CalCloud IaaS customers:
• Board of Equalization
• Board of State and Community Corrections
• California Bar Association
• California Board of Accountancy
• California Correctional Health Care Services
• California Department of Technology
• California Health Benefit Exchange
• California Public Utilities Commission
• City of Rohnert Park
• Department of Aging
• Department of Child Support Services
• Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation
• Department of Food and Agriculture
• Department of Health Care Services
• Department of Motor Vehicles
• Department of Public Health
• Department of Rehabilitation
• Department of Social Services
• Emergency Medical Services Authority
• Employment Development Department
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal)
• Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development
• High-Speed Rail Authority
• Office of Environmental Health and Hazards Assessment
• Office of Systems Integration - CWS
• Secretary of State
• State Controller’s Office
Departments Subscribing to VHSS
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – 13 Customers
• Alcoholic Beverage Control
• California Conservation Corps
• California Department of Technology
• California Environmental Protection Agency
• California Health Benefit Exchange
• Department of Health Care Services
• Department of Industrial Relations
• Department of Motor Vehicles
• Department of Toxic Substance Control
• Department of Transportation
• Fair Political Practices Commission
• Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development
• Office of Systems Integration
Project and Portfolio Management (Clarity) – 4 Customers
• California Department of Technology
• California State Teachers’ Retirement System
• Department of Health Care Services
• Ventura County
IT Services Management (Remedy on Demand) – 3 Customers
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
• California Department of Technology
• Department of Motor Vehicles
Office Productivity (O365) – 40 Customers
• Agriculture Labor Relations Board
• California Air Resources Board
• California Conservation Corps
• California Department of Aging
• California Department of Business Oversight
• California Department of Child Support Services
• California Department of Developmental Services
• California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
• California Department of Public Health
• California Department of Social Services
• California Department of Technology
• California Environmental Protection Agency
• California State Library
• California State Transportation Agency
Office Productivity (O365) (continued)
• California Tahoe Conservancy
• City of San Rafael
• Department of Community Services
• Department of Fair Employment Planning and Housing
• Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Department of Food and Agriculture
• Department of General Services
• Department of Health Care Services
• Department of Industrial Relations
• Department of Managed Health Care
• Department of Motor Vehicles
• Department of Rehabilitation
• Department of State Hospitals
• Department of Toxic Substance Control
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Veteran Affairs
• Department of Water Resources
• FI$CAL
• High Speed Rail Authority
• Medical Board of California
• Office of Health Information Integrity
• Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development
• Office of Traffic Safety
• State Coastal Conservancy
• State Lands Commission
• Victims Compensation & Government Claims Board
Government Cloud Email – 4 Customers
• Agriculture Labor Relations Board
• California Department of Social Services
• California Environmental Protection Agency
• Department of Toxic Substance Control
CalCloud Vendors
CalCloud IaaS:
• AT&T
• AT&T Security on Demand
• Cisco
• Fortinet
• IBM
• Intel
• Microsoft
• NetApp
• Oracle
• Red Hat
• VMware
CalCloud VHSS:
• BMC
• CA Technologies
• Microsoft
• Salesforce
