The federal government is moving toward cloud computing services, but there are some wrinkles to iron out. In some cases, cloud-computing vendors don't understand the scope of what government agencies need, and in other instances, there are budgetary and security issues

Chris Kemp, CIO at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center in California, said vendors have offered a small cluster of computers while the space agency needs massive clusters to perform scientific research. "We operate at science scale, not enterprise application scale," Kemp said at a forum on new IT approaches for the federal government.

IDG News Services also reported that some government agencies are trying to figure out how to write contracts for cloud computing.

Doug Bourgeois, director of the National Business Center for the Department of the Interior, said he wants a pay-as-you-go business model and flexibility from vendors. Panelists also pointed out that it will be essential that any of the cloud computing vendors meet government cybersecurity rules, and that will take time and verification.

Read more on the feds in the clouds:
- see this IDG article