Many government organizations have embraced cloud computing in order to reduce costs and inefficiencies. It makes financial and operational sense for most departments, research groups, and agencies to adopt hosted infrastructures. Government organizations have work that requires them to collaborate and communicate with the public and local and state groups, but also have restrictive budgets and need an infrastructure that satisfied the above conditions without sacrificing security or control. Only cloud computing fulfills of all of these requirements.
The BioSense 2.0 program illustrates many of the benefits of cloud computing for government organizations. Congress mandated the creation of the original BioSense in 2002 in response to the 2001 anthrax attacks. It was a ÛÏsyndromic surveillance systemÛ designed to analyze public health data for signs of bioterrorism. With this arrangement, hospitals would send their data to the on-site data centers of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC would analyze the data for patterns and send out reports of suspicious illnesses and suspected attacks.
In 2010, the focus of the BioSense program shifted from bioterrorism to health crises of all types. This necessitated that the CDCÛªs data sharing and management system would have to change, too. It would have to give state, local, and individual health officials more control over their own data (to be able to analyze and respond to localized diseases) while maintaining the nationwide system (to coordinate different regions and prevent the spread of epidemics). It would also have to be cheap enough for health officials at every levelÛÓincluding poorly-funded hospitals and districtsÛÓto be able to participate in the program. In other words, BioSense 2.0 required the unique combination of flexibility, high-performance, and cost-efficiency of cloud computing.
According to the CDC, the cloud-based BioSense 2.0 has already helped to manage multiple public health crises, including the 2009-2010 H1N1 Flu Pandemic, the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill, and the 2011 U.S. Heat Wave. Surely it will also play a role in the governmentÛªs response to this summerÛªs record-breaking heat wave and a recent outbreak of the West Nile virus in Texas.
Cloud-hosted applications and data can be accessed any authorized employee from anywhere with a web-enabled device. Also, the centralization of clouds maintains the consistency of files and makes the infrastructures easier to manage and protect. Hosting companiesÛª economies of scale also lower the costs of hosting infrastructures, platforms, and applications compared to on-site IT infrastructures. With cloud computing, offices that could not afford an on-site IT infrastructure in the first place can either join a cloud shared by all the offices of their organization or adopt their own cloud-based solution for a reasonable price. For all of these reasons, cloud computing should be the preferred hosting option for larger, highly-dispersed, or cost-efficient groups.
Companies do not have to be as large or as widely-dispersed as a government agency to benefit from cloud computing, however. Cloud-based solutions from Ironorbit will help smaller organizations improve their flexibility and mobility while lowering their IT costs. All of our clouds feature elite security (including 24/7 monitoring, firewalls, and antivirus) and unbeatable performance (our patented AST Speedy Technology combines speed, reliability, and quick deployment). We will also build your cloud according to your exact IT requirements and preferences. At Ironorbit, we donÛªt expect our clouds to save lives like the BioSense 2.0 programÛÓweÛªll just settle with dramatically improving the IT efficiency and security of all our valued customers.