Last week the US Army released  a procurement solicitation for the Army Private Cloud.  This $249M solicitation calls for a 1-year base period with four, 1-year options. Department of the Army, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA [ALT]), Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), has a requirement for the Army Private Cloud.

According to the solicitation, "The Department of the Army, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA [ALT]), Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), has a requirement for the Army Private Cloud." Originally publicized as the Army Enterprise Application Hosting Service (AEAHS), the service cited a need for quick and flexible deployment of applications supporting various levels of mission criticality.

"Traditionally the Army has used a relatively decentralized approach to provision of information systems and services.  This approach has enabled significant innovation and enhanced warfighting capability.  The Army is now ready to leverage a more centralized approach as a component of the LandWarNet strategy.  This approach will enable the Warfighter to access information globally while reducing costs and energy usage.  Cloud Computing is part of this approach and is expected to reduce cost while improving access and security.  The Army cannot afford to continue doing business as usual and will embrace lessons learned from the private sector to achieve cost savings."

In this procurement, the Army will procure two "suites".

Suite 1 encompasses:

i)    Continental United States (CONUS) – Fixed-facility Contractor owned and operated or Government owned facility, operated by the Contractor, including Contractor provisioning and ownership of equipment.
ii)    Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) – Fixed Government owned facility, operated by the Contractor and including Contractor provisioning and ownership of equipment.  Locations may be either austere or non-austere.

Suite 2 , the Mobile Datacenter, consists of:

i)    Continental United States (CONUS) Containerized Data Center, Contractor owned and including Contractor provisioning and ownership of equipment.  Locations may be either austere or non-austere.
ii)    Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) Mobile, Containerized Data Center Cloud Computing Services including Contractor provisioning and ownership of the Container and the equipment and including deployment locations in austere or non-austere environments.

Solicitation details are available at the FedBizOpps.gov.

For more on the US Army's cloud computing activity, see:

Army G6 Cloud Roadshow Brief

Army Knowledge Leaders Study Cloud Computing

The Army's iPhone Story

One AWESOME Week of Cloud Computing

( Thank you. If you enjoyed this article, get free updates by email or RSS - KLJ )

Follow me at http://Twitter.com/Kevin_Jackson

• Challenges Facing the Enterprise Private Cloud