Microsoft is relying even more on the opportunities provided by the cloud technology. Microsoft is said to be working on come up with a cloud operating system that is specially meant for government purposes. From what we know the name of the Operating System will be Fairfax.
Government agencies already use two of Microsoft’s basic cloud products Windows Azure and Windows Server. A Microsoft government cloud OS would be, in some ways, similar to the Office 365 for Government offering which Microsoft rolled out a year ago. Office 365 for Government is a multi-tenant service that stores US government data in a segregated community cloud. This Cloud OS for government would not run in Microsoft’s datacenters, instead, it would be a customized variant of Windows Server, with physical servers residing on site at government locations.
A cloud operating system designed for governments agencies would not only give Microsoft a serious advantage over the competition but will also contributed to the increase of company’s authority in its field.
Google tried something like this years ago with Google Apps for Government. Google did have quite a few entities move over to the cloud system Boston replaced Microsoft Exchange with Gmail and the Governor’s Office of Colorado now uses Google apps for government.
At Berkeley Labs, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, the labs have migrated more than 4,000 users to Gmail and expect to see $1.5 million to $2 million in savings over five years, Google officials said. The National Archives and Records Administration has become the latest federal agency to move to cloud-based email and applications.
Companies like Unisys have become full fledge consultants migrating government agencies from existing environments to Google apps. The National Archives and Records Administration has become the latest federal agency to move to cloud-based email and applications. NARA has signed Unisys to transition 4,500 of its employees to Google Apps for Government. The contract is worth $2.8 million in its first year, with four one-year options that could bring the total value to $7.2 million. Unisys already has completed migrations of the General Services Administration, Idaho National Laboratory, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to Google’s government cloud.
Google has been hit with some resistance from countries outside the US. Division of the Swedish government has prohibited government bodies from using Google Apps, giving more credence to privacy concerns around public-cloud services. But overall Google continues to push on as they compete with stiff competition from Microsoft Office.
Google is competing aggressively with Microsoft for the business of federal agencies as they transition from on-premises email systems to cloud-based services. The Department of Veterans Affairs chose Microsoft’s Office 365 for Government for 600,000 users. And in June, the Federal Aviation Administration signed for Office 365 for 80,000 users, which is being implemented as a private cloud environment.
With Microsoft doing a cloud operating system designed for governments agencies would not only give Microsoft a serious advantage over the competition but will also contributed to the increase of company’s authority in its field.