This week, our focus was on key considerations before moving to a virtualized development and test (dev-test) environment.

Yesterday, I talked about the location of a dev-test environment.  I argued that  there is a good reason for an agency to consider hosting their own virtualized dev-test environment in their data center.  I said:  

I recently discussed the significant benefits and low risk for agencies adopting a shared virtualized development and test (dev-test) environment.  Until now, each project team has been saddled with building and maintaining their own dev-test environment.  Lacking any centralized planning, development teams made sometimes arbitrary selections for the operating environment which resulted in each system operating as an island; with dedicated facilities and staff.

On Cloud: This week, Johnny Barnes, our Public Sector Chief Technology Officer, provided an overview comparing cloud models and offering thoughts about their connection to the mission needs that may drive an organization to move to the cloud.  For many, this framework is clear; using definitions provided by NIST is intended to help federal leaders compare apples to apples.   A few other articles relevant to efforts to improve performance while reducing budgetary needs: ·    Joe Davidson’s article Monday on the SAVE awards

On Consolidation and the Cloud: Last week, Ravi Bansal wrapped up his description of the Five E’s of IT Consolidation with a discussion of exposure and execution.  The exposure post connects COOP efforts to the consolidation approach; CIOs can manage risk to the mission of their o