California Department of Technology and IBM Announce CalCloud, the Next Generation Technology Service

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Department of Technology and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced CalCloud, a new technology model powered by cloud computing to build and deliver more innovative government services and savings.

The platform, now available to municipalities and all state and local government agencies on a subscription basis, is the first of its kind to be implemented in the United States at the state level.

Through CalCloud, the California Department of Technology is providing next-generation tools that offer access to IT services at the rapid pace that customers demand while minimizing upfront capital investment and controlling financial risk.

Instead of separate IT systems for each department, the CalCloud service model allows government entities to share a common pool of computing resources and operate much more efficiently than they do today. Immediate access to modern back-end services frees up state department to focus on projects with direct impact on the public.

"CalCloud is an important step towards providing faster and more cost effective IT services to California state departments and ultimately to the citizens of California," said Marybel Batjer, Secretary of the Government Operations Agency. 

More than 20 state departments have already requested IT services through CalCloud.

As part of this public-private partnership, IBM is supplying and managing the infrastructure, while the California Department of Technology will manage all other aspects of the service offering. Additionally, IBM will work closely with the state to transfer essential knowledge and best practices in security and systems integration to the Department of Technology.

California's move to offer shared IT services through CalCloud gives state and local government the ability to buy only the computing resources needed with the flexibility to quickly scale up or scale down resources as workloads demand. CalCloud is designed to allow around the clock access to a shared pool of easily configurable resources including compute, storage, network and disaster recovery services. CalCloud meets stringent security standards based on National Institute of Standards (NIST) for cloud based services and FedRAMP.

"Transforming how the State of California delivers technology services is not only more efficient and cost effective, it will spur innovation with cloud capabilities that are open and secure," said Erich Clementi, Senior Vice President, IBM Global Technology Services. "California is setting an example for other states on how to use cloud technology to improve coordination across agencies and municipalities while reducing the barriers and duplication that can impede the delivery of government services."

In addition to IBM, CalCloud partners include AT&T, which will provide excellent network services for the core and edge networks, and IT consulting firms Alexan International, Inc., and KPMG, LLC to drive CalCloud's adoption rate and migration to the new service.

About IBM Cloud Computing
Today, IBM has 100+ cloud SaaS solutions, thousands of experts with deep industry knowledge helping clients transform and a network of 40 data centers worldwide. Since 2007, IBM has invested more than $7 billion in 17 acquisitions to accelerate its cloud initiatives and build a high value cloud portfolio. IBM holds 1,560 cloud patents focused on driving innovation. In fact, IBM for the 21st consecutive year topped the annual list of US patent leaders. IBM processes more than 5.5M client transactions daily through IBM's public cloud. For more information about cloud offerings from IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com/cloud. Follow us on Twitter at @IBMcloud and on our blog at http://www.thoughtsoncloud.com. Read more about CalCloud at http://www.asmarterplanet.com. Join the conversation #ibmcloud.

Journalists and bloggers can download broadcast photo and video about CalCloud at http://www.thenewsmarket.com/CustomLink/CustomLinks.aspx?GUID=034ba3ff-fb5b-49a4-8b8a-ffd194c371e3&bhcp=1

Contact:
Sara Delekta Galligan
IBM Media Relations
[email protected]
415-545-6715

Lynda Gledhill
Deputy Secretary, Communications 
California Government Operations Agency
[email protected] 
916-651-9028

SOURCE IBM