Technically News – 12/3

Technically News is a new feature on Technically Speaking that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a weekly source of IT news, information, and ideas that impact the public sector.

US Government Closes 64 More Data Centers

As part of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) 64 new data centers have been closed, bringing the total to 381. By the end of 2015, the FDCCI plans to consolidate a 40 percent of all the federal government’s data centers. This article by Data Center Knowledge dives deeper into the initiative and its implications moving forward. This FCW article focuses specifically on the DOD’s data center consolidation efforts.

NetApp Links to Amazon’s Cloud with Private Storage for AWS

NetApp believes they have found a way to offer its customers a cloud solution by partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS). As Tim Waldron, Cloud Solutions Marketing Manager for NetApp, explains it, “The customer owned, NetApp FAS is hosted in an AWS Direct Connect facility … allowing for low latency, high bandwidth connections directly into the AWS data centers.”  Read this InfoStor article for more information.

The Cybersecurity Needs of the Borderless Enterprise

There are no borders in the cyber world and with more agencies moving to a virtualized environment, the boundaries IT professionals clung to are rapidly dissolving . Without rapid restructuring of cybersecurity frameworks, agencies are exposingthemselves not only to hackers, but slower response times. This Computer World article explains what your new cybersecurity framework should look like.

How This Government Agency is Saving $500 Million Using Social and Mobile Technologies

How do you save your agency $500 million? Jefferson City’s Missouri Department of Transportation turned to technology, and in doing so became the IT model for cutting spending. For example, instead of hiring a road crew for eight years to repair a major intersection, they closed it down and provided mobile maps and apps to help residents find alternative routes. Learn more about this extraordinary agency by reading this Forbes article.

Why Amazon Thinks Big Data Was Made for the Cloud

Matt Wood, Amazon Web Services’ Chief Data Scientist, believes big data and the cloud are a match made in heaven. Although big data has been a concept understood by IT professionals for years, its implementation in the real world has been hamstrung by low computing processing power and limited storage space. Read this GigaOM article to understand why that’s changing.

Autodesk Announces Fusion 360 Cloud Based 3D Engineering Software

For the first time, Autodesk has released a cloud based version of its 3D engineering software. Called Fusion 360, customers will now be able to access and collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world, at any time. This will create efficiencies in the design environment never before seen. The Inquirerhas an in depth article on the new software and its implications.

8 Reasons Agency IT Will Change Course in 2013

The upcoming year will be the one in which government agencies and IT professionals are forced to make long term decisions on a plethora of technology topics. Movements that will force these changes include the end of Windows XP and Office 2003, the rise of Windows 8 and an increase in employees using their own mobile devices in the workplace. Read this GCN article to read all eight catalysts.

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