The US Interior Department has announced that it is awarding Google and Onix Networking the USD 35 million contracts to consolidate the agency’s email and collaboration systems, changing its first decision that favored Microsoft’s Office 365.

1. http://nortonscientificjournal.com/research/

2. The US Interior Department has announced
that it is awarding Google and Onix
Networking the USD 35 million contracts to
consolidate the agency’s email and
collaboration systems, changing its first
decision that favored Microsoft’s Office 365.
“Implementing a Department-wide, cloud-
based email system that helps modernize the
ways we do business while cutting costs is
good government, plain and simple,” said
Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior.

3. The agency’s move of consolidating its IT operations aims
to reduce deficit and save as much as USD 500 million
by 2020.
This new deal aims to migrate the Interior’s 90,000
mailboxes from various instances of Microsoft Exchange,
Lotus Domino and other programs on collaboration and
messaging on to Google’s cloud services.
DOI’s deal with Google requires features such as calendar,
email, task management and archiving. In addition, the
agency also needs an online suite of Sites web design
tool, document productivity programs and video/audio
chat tools along with mobile services of Google.

4. The contract was actually given to Onix Networking,
Google’s partner, with a 60-day period to
demonstrate its various security and technology
capabilities.
Being a government contract, it wouldn’t be as easy
as moving mailboxes; Google and Onix Networking
still has to prove that they can meet the agency’s
objectives for regulatory compliance and
information assurance.

5. Norton Scientific Journal reported that the winning
bid’s contract covers the first stage of the project
costing USD 17, 248 and the overall project cost of
USD 34.8 million over the next 7 years. After the
requirements for an integrated suite of tools were
met by Onix and Google, DOI will begin migrating
over 90,000 staff mailboxes from its 7 on-site email
systems on to the cloud, a process that is expected
to be finished before the year ends. Onix
Networking is set to do a test roll-out in the coming
months, prior to the full deployment.

6. “Not only do we get the features we want in a
desired security environment, but our workforce
will get the cutting edge technology that many of
them use in their personal lives. We look forward to
providing state-of-the-art communication and
collaboration tools, desktop video, document
sharing and new messaging technologies to help
Interior employees work more effectively with each
other and with external partners,” said Andrew
Jackson, Interior deputy assistant secretary for
technology in a statement to Norton Scientific
Journal.

7. Obviously, Microsoft was not a happy camper with the
final decision, issuing the following statement:
“Microsoft has a positive, longstanding relationship
with the Department of Interior and we are working
on a number of enterprise-wide initiatives with the
agency. Although we are disappointed by this
award, we will engage with our partners and DOI to
review and understand the reasons for this
decision. Microsoft remains committed to providing
our customers with the cloud services that have the
performance, security, privacy and other
capabilities they expect and deserve.”

8. After the successful migration, DOI will be the biggest
main US agency to shift into the Google cloud.
However, it is not the first agency to move into
cloud email services as National Oceanic
Atmospheric Administration, Lawrence Berkeley
National Lab, General Services Administration and
Department of Agriculture have already switched,
while the Department of Veterans Affairs is
considering a shift.