Cloud computing is becoming a fact of life as agencies are pressed to make IT infrastructures more flexible and efficient. Agencies can off-load much of the work and expense of acquiring and managing hardware, software and services under a variety of cloud models, but responsibility cannot be outsourced.

Cloud computing remains an important trend and, in the long run, will have a transformational impact on the way government organisations access and leverage IT. However, the path to the cloud is definitely slower and more tortuous than many wish to think.

Today, Citizens Against Government Waste published an educational report that aims to familiarize taxpayers and lawmakers with the basics of cloud computing.

State and local governments are expanding their use of cloud-based services, but it’s hard to pick a clear winner among cloud providers in the public-sector market.

As the nation’s first federal CIO, Vivek Kundra brought a high-energy approach to the job and a wealth of fresh ideas to promote innovation and efficiency. He won support, sparked conversation and elbowed the status quo out of the way a few times. But it remains to be seen whether his initiatives have staying power now that he has left the government.

Microsoft raised some eyebrows when Corporate VP Brad Anderson boldly proclaimed that, “Virtualizations is not cloud computing.” While this statement garnered a lot of buzz due to its timing – Anderson said this during the VMWorld annual event – that doesn’t make this statement any less true.

Congress can put its weight behind standards efforts, acquisition policies and laws that promote trust to move cloud computing forward, representatives from industry and government told members of the House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation at a hearing in Washington.

One in five of the companies responding to a Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) survey of cloud trends said they are moving some or all of their outsourced cloud systems back on-premises.

The federal government's adoption of cloud computing is not merely critical to technology innovation, but also is crucial to ensure that the United States can remain economically competitive across the globe, technology experts said Wednesday.

Under pressure to move to cloud computing by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), yet harboring intractable concerns about protecting sensitive data, many federal agency managers are opting for private clouds, which they consider more secure than public cloud environments.