GTSI chief executive joins federal cloud commission

GTSI CEO Sterling Phillips has been appointed to the Commission on the Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Government on the Cloud, also known as the Cloud2 Initiative.

The purpose of the program is to develop a set of actionable recommendations governing cloud computing for the commercial and public sectors, according to a May 2 GTSI announcement.

Phillips will work with select commission colleagues on issues of particular relevance to the public sector, particularly the future role of data centers.

"By its own estimates, the federal government today operates more than 2,000 data centers. And data center development has been part of GTSI's business portfolio for more than a decade," Phillips said in the announcement.

"Yet almost overnight, cloud computing fundamentally changes the data center landscape in both the public and private sectors, presenting major issues and opportunities for efficiency and cost-effective IT management," he said.

Phillips acknowledged that cloud computing is a transformational technology with massive potential to alter the way IT infrastructure is purchased, managed and used. But “serious concerns of security, privacy, and accountability must be addressed. It is in these areas where I expect to focus my attention," he said.

Recommendations for government cloud deployment will be presented to Federal CIO Vivek Kundra, who has unveiled a $20 billion migration program to move federal infrastructure to cloud environments.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will receive recommendations for the commercial sector.

The senior executive commission operates under the auspices of the industry association TechAmerica Foundation.

GTSI Corp., of Herndon, Va., ranks No. 59 on Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.