Getting program managers to embrace cloud computing can be a hard sell since they mostly see risks that outweigh benefits, said Tim Johnson, enterprise architect within the Defense Department office of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.

If something were to go wrong in the cloud, that glitch could potentially delay a manager's ability to deploy or deliver something to the war fighter, Johnson said June 22 while speaking at a Symantec Government Symposium 2010 panel in Washington, D.C.

But DoD panel speakers said they're optimistic about the future of DoD cloud computing.

"We will in all likelihood be creating a private cloud within the department of Navy for our computing services," said Rob Carey, Department of the Navy chief information officer

"Cloud creates a business opportunity to reduce the cost of computing infrastructure, while at the same time, hopefully raising the security bar," he added.

Still, during times of falling budgets, cloud proponents must make a business case tying adoption to agency missions, panel speakers said.

Cloud computing shifts the "security paradigm to that of the data. Today, that's not how it's done," Carey said.

Cloud adoption would be furthered by common federal standards for cloud implementation, he added. "[We should have] consistency on how to evaluate the security associated with the cloud and then make it portable across agencies and across clouds so that I can take advantage of that consistent solution and I'll know what I can get out the other side," said Carey.

"We've been fighting the reciprocity issue with [certification and accreditation]. I think this turns C&A on its side a little bit. We have to understand its effect, because this is computing on a different scale and dimension than we've done in the past," he added.

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