The Intersection of Open Source and the Cloud

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In December 2010, U.S. Chief Information O cer (CIO) Vivek Kundra unveiled The 25 Point Implementation Plan, from the O ce of Management and Budget, with recommendations for federal IT reform in the areas of operational e ciency and large-scale IT program management. One of the top initiatives of the 25 point plan calls for agencies to immediately begin a shift to a cloud- rst policy and outlines very speci c related short-term deadlines. Yet, many organizational and IT leaders in both government and contracting organizations understandably still lack awareness and true understanding of cloud computing despite the fact that the federal government is leading the adoption of this still-evolving technology model. In June 2010, the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance and Market Connections, Inc., a leading federal market research provider, released the results of a survey designed to measure awareness and attitudes about cloud computing and cyber security topics. Among its many interesting ndings, the study revealed that 71% of the 198 respondents were either not familiar with cloud, unsure if their agency is using it, or not using/discussing it at all.

While most federal respondents believe that open source is the wave of the future, acceptance is hindered by a lack of widespread awareness and understanding of OSS. In fact, four out of ten government survey participants are not sure about their agencys open source software usage or plans.

Low awareness and understanding were again prevalent ndings in a separate but related study on the state of open source software (OSS) in government, conducted by Market Connections and Lockheed Martin several months later. In the OSS study, four out of ten government survey participants were not sure about their agencys open source software usage or plans. As agencies continue to investigate and implement cloud computing, the following recommendations can be derived from the OSS survey results with respect to the potential use of open source: > Open Source is a viable option for the implementation of federal cloud computing; yet agencies need to thoroughly investigate cost bene ts. > Open source concerns associated with security and reliability can be overcome with more education, particularly via open source communities. > Develop strategies and policies that leverage open source bene ts, and ensure open source polices are integral to the overall software development and deployment process. > Be pragmatic by investing in training and establishing clear internal support. > Create awareness of OS cloud initiatives to gain deeper understanding, acceptance and support across your organization.

2011 Lockheed Martin Corporation and Market Connections, Inc.

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The Inevitable Emergence of Federal Cloud Computing and the Related Rise of Open Source Software
Cloud computing has been under the spotlight as an emerging IT trend in the federal government for several years. As de ned by The National Institute of Standards and Technology, cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of con gurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management e ort or service provider interaction. The growing interest is understandable, as the dramatic bene ts of cloud computing are undisputed. By reducing redundancy, it makes information easier to access and share, cheaper to store, and more e cient to manage. Its clear that many in the federal government want to leverage these bene ts. A 2010 Market Connections online quantitative research study of U.S. Federal government defense, military, and intelligence agencies on behalf of the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance showed that cloud computing has low levels of awareness, trust, and adoption among IT decision makers in the U.S. defense/military and federal government. The study also revealed that 71% of the 198 respondents were either not familiar with cloud, unsure if their agency is using it, or not using/discussing it at all. Yet, at the same time, the study ndings suggest that cloud utilization is poised for rapid gains. Simultaneously, early adopters of cloud computing in government have looked to the use of open source software (OSS) to speed implementation, lower costs and drive the development of nascent cloud standards. The use of open source cloud computing can be found at DISA, NASA, the Department of Energy and the Executive O ce of the President, just to name a few. It is clear that GOVERMENT INDUSTRY the use of open source is having an impact on the adoption of cloud computing in government. 40% 69% Questions remain, however, about the prevalence of open source usage in government, whether it 17% 10% is considered a viable option, and what inhibitors may need attention before use of open source 43% 21% becomes widely adopted across government. Market Connections most recent study looking at adoption and awareness of OSS in the federal government revealed that agencies are increasingly embracing OSS and its bene ts, including decreased development costs, improved exibility, rapid pace of innovation, and freedom to do it yourself. Yet a dichotomy similar to cloud adoption exists: Namely, while most federal respondents believe that open source is the wave of the future, acceptance is hindered by a lack of widespread awareness and understanding of OSS. In fact, four out of ten government survey participants are not sure about their agencys open source software usage or plans.
2011 Lockheed Martin Corporation and Market Connections, Inc.

Currently use OSS Plan to use OSS Not Sure

100%

100%

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Like the federal study on cloud computing, ndings from this study clearly show that OSS is poised for increased adoption. Three out of four government participants believe that open source is the wave of the future and their organization should get on board. Nearly two-thirds agree that the open source development approach helps produce reliable, high quality software quickly and inexpensively. CHALLENGES IN USING OPEN SOURCE
Resistance within the organization/agency culture Security concerns Incompatibility with legacy technologies Need for software support Lack of familiarity with open source solutions Lack of executive sponsorship Policy issues Lack of skilled sta

46% 42% 28% 27% 26% 19% 18% 16%

Speci cally, more than half of government participants report that their agencies currently use or plan to use open source software. And, while nearly half of participants agree that resistance within the agency culture and security concerns are the two biggest challenges to using open source, two-thirds expect OSS use to increase in their organizations in the next 12-18 months.

OSS, Cloud Computing, and The 25 Point Plan

In December 2010, U.S. Chief Information O cer (CIO) Vivek Kundra called for agencies to immediately Legal issues 16% begin a shift to a cloud- rst policy in The 25 Lack of resources to train 15% Point Implementation Plan, which encompasses existing sta recommendations for federal IT reform in the areas A challenging procurement 11% process of operational e ciency and large-scale IT program 0% 20% 40% 60% management. The plan is the outcome of 18 months spent by Kundra and his team engaging the federal IT, acquisition, and program management communities; industry experts; and academics. They also held listening sessions with Congress, Agency CIOs, and senior procurement executives and received detailed input and recommendations from industry groups such as TechAmerica. CIO Kundras plan states: The three-part strategy on cloud technology will revolve around using commercial cloud technologies where feasible, launching private government clouds, and utilizing regional clouds with state and local governments where appropriate. Cloud computing brings a wide range of bene ts: > Economical: Cloud computing is a pay-as-you-go approach to IT, in which a low initial investment is required to begin, and additional investment is needed only as system use increases.
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> Flexible: IT departments that anticipate uctuations in user demand no longer need to scramble for additional hardware and software. With cloud computing, they can add or subtract capacity quickly and easily. > Fast: Cloud computing eliminates long procurement and certi cation processes, while providing a near-limitless selection of services. When evaluating options for new IT deployments, OMB will require that agencies default to cloud-based solutions whenever a secure, reliable, cost-e ective cloud option exists. To facilitate this shift, we will be standing up secure government-wide cloud computing platforms.

BENEFITS TO USING OPEN SOURCE

Save money Flexible Rapid pace of innovation Freedom to DIY (Do It Yourself ) Reliable Increased productivity Streamlined operations Other
0%

66% 58% 51% 43% 20% 20% 14% 2%

20% 40%
solutions for sharing collaboration by researchers OTHER MENTIONS INCLUDE:

Kundra and his team designed the plan to require a focus on execution and to achieve some early wins to garner momentum for continued e orts. With regard to the shift to a cloud rst policy, each agency must identify three must move services within three months. From there, they must move one of those services to the cloud within 12 months, and the remaining two within 18 months. To meet the directives set forth by Kundras plan, it is critical that agency leadership understand the di erence between open standards and open source. A standard is a blueprint it tells you what you must do once you begin building something. An open standard the enemy of provider lock-in is developed and maintained in a particularly transparent way with community involvement and is freely available and implementable.

Open source, on the other hand, is code actual software that may implement or adhere to open standards. It is also built and maintained in a particularly transparent way with community involvement and is freely available. (For example, common creative licenses should be used for non-source code content in a given application.)
60% 80%

The Exponential Power of Open Source Cloud Computing

Open source capabilities are impacting adoption of cloud computing in the federal government. Speci cally, a lack of standards represents a signi cant obstacle to cloud adoption. OSS is an excellent means of facilitating standards adoption, as developers can resolve standards bugs in beta releases and use open source code to quickly add software support for standards.
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Security is another concern hindering cloud adoption. However, 24% of survey respondents view OSS as a means for improved cloud security. Because developers open source code can be traced back to them, they are highly motivated to maximize the security of the code they submit, which is critical to their success as they strive to get to market rst with rapid innovation.

+66% OSS Use next 12-18 months

Further, OSS mitigates interoperability and integration issues associated with cloud computing, the biggest perceived obstacle to cloud outside of security, according to the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance/Market Connections study. Indeed, OSS serves as a powerful accelerator of cloud computing adoption as federal agencies and departments strive to comply to the short-term execution requirements of the U.S. CIOs new cloud- rst policy.

+52% OSS Investment next 12-18 months

Though there are currently few federal government contributors to open source, the federal government is taking a lead role in the convergence of OS and cloud with not only Kundras plan but also his departments establishment of FedRAMP, a new program that will serve as a single entity through which the government could authorize cloud services for use by agencies. In addition, its expected that the Standards Accelerations to Jumpstart Adoption of Cloud Computing (SAJAAC), formed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will be in uential. Equally important, major technology providers such as Eucalyptus, Red Hat (partnered with reseller DLT Solutions), Microsoft and IBM are currently developing and o ering cloud applications, operating systems, platforms and code in OS environments. Furthermore, numerous OS communities exist in the market, including the Federal Open Source Alliance, The Open Cloud Manifesto, and Open Cloud Consortium. The industry venues and support they provide further accelerate rapid innovation as well as adoption and growth of the OS cloud market.

Federal OS Cloud Success Stories Multiply

Numerous impressive implementations of OS cloud applications exist today in the federal government. One example is NASAs Nebula program, an all open-source environment that allows NASA scientists and stakeholders to access cloud resources to advance mission programs. In addition, the core technology NASA developed for its Nebula cloud computing platform has been selected as a contributor for OpenStack, a newly-launched open source cloud computing initiative. This will allow others outside of the NASA community the opportunity to bene t from and participate with NASAs e orts. Nebula Senior Engineer Todd Willeys wrote in a July 26, 2010 Nebula blog post, .this allows us to interact and work with a larger community to build out new functionality and drive the technology forward at a faster pace. . . .
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Nebula will allow NASA to share and collaborate with the OSS community at all levels. The amount of exibility OpenStack provides and the desire of the community to be able to implement solutions on top of OpenStack means that we will be moving forward at a very rapid pace. We are committed to continuing to develop the platform in the open, where we can engage with subject matter experts and derive the most value for our scientists, wrote Willey. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which provides IT support to the Department of Defense (DoD), began leveraging cloud computing in 2008 by creating its own secure private cloud, the Rapid Access Computing Environment (RACE). Through virtual server technology, RACE provide on-demand server space for development teams and is considered more secure and stable than a traditional public cloud. In a June 10, 2010 CIO.gov article, Federal CIO Kundra wrote, RACE consists of many virtual servers inside a single physical server. By using virtualization technologies, DISA has divided the costs of provisioning and operating a single physical server among the users of the various virtual servers. This system passes cost savings on to individual teams. Within this virtual environment, users can use a self-service portal to provision computing resources in 50 GB increments with the guarantee that the environment will be secure to DoD standards. At DoD, a dedicated server environment used to take three to six weeks to provision due to lengthy procurement processes. However, RACE is able to provision functional server space to users in 24 hours. The cost for a user to obtain an environment on RACE is reasonable and can be set up with an approved government credit card. OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM/TOOL SUITE CONSIDERATIONS With that faster pace, 52% DISA is now extending 49% 46% the open source cloud bene ts to handheld devices and is currently 24% testing various smart15% phone applications with 9% Army eld personnel using Androids.
Ease of using the development platform or tool suite Ease of integration with already developed applications Size of the community using the platform Wide range of applications already exist on the platform Ease of acquiring Ease of deploying the development applications to platform or tool mobile devices suite

60%

40%

20%

0%

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Recommendations for Adopting OS Cloud Applications

The following high-level guidelines will be useful to federal departments and agencies exploring and transitioning to new cloud- rst policies: > Open Source is a viable option for the implementation of federal cloud computing. However, use of open source warrants a thorough investigation of its cost bene t. > Open source concerns associated with security and reliability can be overcome with more education. Participate in open source communities like Open Cloud Manifesto, OpenNebula and OpenStack. Learn via small pilots. > Develop strategies and policies that leverage open source bene ts and create internal management of source code. Ensure open source polices are an integral part of the overall software development and deployment process. > Be pragmatic: Invest in training and establish clear internal support. Run a pilot or series of pilot programs against clearly de ned and measurable objectives. Engage professionals from organizations with speci c OS cloud expertise. Build interim successes that incorporate lessons learned and the latest industry best practices. > Create awareness of OS cloud initiatives: Communicate interim successes to gain deeper understanding, acceptance and support across your organization. The Market Connections and Lockheed Martin research study on the state of OSS in the government marketplace collected 240 responses. All survey participants, which included a mix of government employees from federal civilian and independent agencies, the Department of IDEAL OPEN SOURCE TOOL CHARACTERISTICS Defense including all military services, state and local government employees and companies Easy to use Well documented serving the government, have some level of involvement with open source, IT implementation Flexible Leading edge or IT policy in their organizations.

Con gurable Wide community of users to support each other Supportable with a minimum of e ort

Peer reviewed Interoperable yet secure

Cheaper relative to legacy systems performing the same function

2011 Lockheed Martin Corporation and Market Connections, Inc.

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About Lockheed Martin and OS Cloud Computing

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 132,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The company has developed and implemented its own OS cloud environment called Eureka Streams, and is developing numerous federal applications, including those for emergency response, healthcare, and weather and ocean observance.

About Market Connections, Inc.

Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, Market Connections provides comprehensive B2B and B2G market research services, enabling organizations to make informed, intelligent decisions that drive signi cant and measurable business and process improvements. The rm o ers deep domain expertise in numerous markets, including federal, state and local governments; information technology and telecommunications; education; healthcare; and associations and non-pro ts. For more information visit: www.marketconnectionsinc.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Melvin Greer, Chief Strategist, SOA/Cloud Computing Lockheed Martin Senior Fellow Melvin.greer@lmco.com Cynthia Poole, Director, Research Services Market Connections cynthiap@marketconnectionsinc.com

2011 Lockheed Martin Corporation and Market Connections, Inc.