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Amazon gets clearance to provide more cloud services to Pentagon
By Barney Jopson in Washington
©Bloomberg
Amazon’s cloud computing business has received high-level security clearance from the Pentagon, paving the way for it to provide more services to the US government.
Cloud computing is a growing part of the online retailer’s services business and Amazon is making a big push to persuade government clients to switch their systems from old-fashioned in-house servers to its own data centres.
Amazon said on Wednesday that the Department of Defense had granted its eight-year old cloud computing business new authorisations after concluding that it met the Pentagon’s “stringent security and compliance requirements”.
While the cloud business remains overshadowed by Amazon’s online store, it is a pillar of the company’s drive to diversify revenues by providing pay-as-you-go infrastructure services on which others can build their operations.
The revenues of the business, known as Amazon Web Services, are forecast by Macquarie Capital to grow sharply from an estimated $3.4bn in 2013 to $5.3bn this year and $8.1bn in 2015.
Amazon itself does not disclose figures for the AWS business. The company’s total revenues hit $74bn in 2013.
Some Department of Defense agencies, including the US air force and the navy, already use the Amazon cloud, but the latest authorisations will make it easier for other agencies to approve its use. Across the US government Amazon says more than 600 agencies use AWS services.
Amazon promotes its cloud services as a means for public and private sector institutions to replace in-house servers and IT departments with external systems that are low-cost and flexible
This week the FT reported that Nasdaq was re-evaluating a landmark cloud partnership it launched with the Amazon 18 months ago.
Teresa Carlson, an AWS vice-president, said: “[We] look forward to continuing to demonstrate the security and reliability of the AWS cloud so that an even broader set of DoD customers can use our services to reduce costs and innovate for their missions.”
But AWS’s reliability claims have been undermined by a small number of well-publicised outages in recent years that disabled the websites of some of its clients and highlighted the risks of outsourcing to the cloud.
Amazon faces competition in the cloud computing market from Google’s cloud platform, Microsoft Azure, Rackspace and others.
This month the Pentagon rolled out a private cloud computing service of its own called MilCloud. It does not compete against commercial cloud providers and provides an extra level of security for sensitive and classified information, according to the Defense Information Systems Agency, which developed it.
Amazon’s growing presence in Washington is not limited to cloud computing and its retail customers. Its founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post newspaper last year and this month launched one of the first major subscription initiatives under his ownership.
Amazon gets clearance to provide more cloud services to Pentagon
By Barney Jopson in Washington
Amazon’s cloud computing business has received high-level security clearance from the Pentagon, paving the way for it to provide more services to the US government.
Cloud computing is a growing part of the online retailer’s services business and Amazon is making a big push to persuade government clients to switch their systems from old-fashioned in-house servers to its own data centres.
Amazon said on Wednesday that the Department of Defense had granted its eight-year old cloud computing business new authorisations after concluding that it met the Pentagon’s “stringent security and compliance requirements”.
While the cloud business remains overshadowed by Amazon’s online store, it is a pillar of the company’s drive to diversify revenues by providing pay-as-you-go infrastructure services on which others can build their operations.
The revenues of the business, known as Amazon Web Services, are forecast by Macquarie Capital to grow sharply from an estimated $3.4bn in 2013 to $5.3bn this year and $8.1bn in 2015.
Amazon itself does not disclose figures for the AWS business. The company’s total revenues hit $74bn in 2013.
Some Department of Defense agencies, including the US air force and the navy, already use the Amazon cloud, but the latest authorisations will make it easier for other agencies to approve its use. Across the US government Amazon says more than 600 agencies use AWS services.
Amazon promotes its cloud services as a means for public and private sector institutions to replace in-house servers and IT departments with external systems that are low-cost and flexible
This week the FT reported that Nasdaq was re-evaluating a landmark cloud partnership it launched with the Amazon 18 months ago.
Teresa Carlson, an AWS vice-president, said: “[We] look forward to continuing to demonstrate the security and reliability of the AWS cloud so that an even broader set of DoD customers can use our services to reduce costs and innovate for their missions.”
But AWS’s reliability claims have been undermined by a small number of well-publicised outages in recent years that disabled the websites of some of its clients and highlighted the risks of outsourcing to the cloud.
Amazon faces competition in the cloud computing market from Google’s cloud platform, Microsoft Azure, Rackspace and others.
This month the Pentagon rolled out a private cloud computing service of its own called MilCloud. It does not compete against commercial cloud providers and provides an extra level of security for sensitive and classified information, according to the Defense Information Systems Agency, which developed it.
Amazon’s growing presence in Washington is not limited to cloud computing and its retail customers. Its founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post newspaper last year and this month launched one of the first major subscription initiatives under his ownership.
