A private cloud hosted at four data centers could soon be the Veterans Affairs Department backroom architecture for its existing Blackberry, Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint services, including archiving, as well as enterprise backup and storage, according to a Feb. 24 VA request for information.

The VA says it's investigating moving enterprise messaging, archive, backup and storage--what it's calling the "Big 4"--to a contractor-owned cloud formed by four data centers. The VA would continue to use its existing Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) licenses, the RFI states.

Each server in the cloud would join the VA's Active Directory Forest, the RFI adds. The Exchange hosting would be for up to 600,000 mailboxes located mostly in the continental United States while also supporting Exchange for a stand-alone installation in Manila, Philippines, the RFI states. Backup for the Exchange, SharePoint, BlackBerry, email archive and enterprise storage systems would be located at the data centers, but local VA facilities would have on site backup components for other services, the RFI adds.

The VA, according to the RFI, will supply the multiprotocol label switching wide area network between the data centers and the VA backbone.

A contract for running the data centers--including providing the facilities, the hardware and the software--could last for two years with three one year option periods. Mary Lamb of telecom market analysis firm Suss Consulting, of Jenkintown, Pa., told NextGov the contract would be worth $150 million. Responses to the RFI are due no later than March 14.  

Many agencies have recently found that email is a suitable target for migration to the cloud, whether a public or private one. Microsoft and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in particular are fighting hard to dominate the market. Agencies have been told by the Office of Management and Budget to migrate one service to the cloud by the end of this calendar year and another two services by mid-2012.

For more:
- go to the RFI webpage on FBO.gov

Related Articles:
Kundra: 'Cloud first' to be funded by data center consolidation savings
Roger Baker touts VA and DoD health IT commonality at budget hearing
VA plans for an open source VistA