NIST to Lead Way Into Cloud for Commerce Dept

The National Institute for Standards and Technology will be the first division within the Commerce Department to move into a cloud computing infrastructure, Nextgov reports.

Citing a request for proposals, Joseph Marks writes the department plans to move part of its email and collaboration platforms to the cloud.

The cloud vendor will be required to provide instant messaging, calendar functions, desktop video conferencing, web-based collaboration tools and e-discovery tools for responding to legal requests, the RFP says.

Marks reports NIST has about 5,600 email users at its two campuses in Gaithersburg, Md., and Boulder, Colo.

The secretary’s office has about 1,500 email inboxes and will move to the cloud second after NIST, according to the report.

Cloud tools must be interoperable and have the ability to work across different browsers and platforms, the report says.