Friday, November 29, 2013

NRRC Video Series - Video 3 : Federated Identity and Access Management

In September, the NCOIC delivered the Geospatial Community Cloud (GCC) demonstration.  Sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, this demonstration showed how an interoperable, hybrid-cloud operating environment can be quickly enabled and used as a rapid response capability.While this demonstration was designed around lessons learned in the 2010 Haitian Earthquake, the effort showed how a cloud services brokerage approach could be used to quickly provide critical information technology infrastructure support to an unplanned event.

The NCOIC is an international organization for accelerating the global implementation of network centric principles and systems--to improve information sharing among various communities of interest for the betterment of their productivity, interactivity, safety, and security. The NCOIC Rapid Response Capability (NRRC) video series supports that mission by broadly disseminating information about the GCC demonstration for the good of the global community.


In Video 3: Federated Identity and Access Management, Dr. Craig Lee, senior scientist with the Computer Systems Research Dept. at The Aerospace Corporation, talks on ensuring a trusted federation environment, managing the security of the information and creating virtual organizations in OpenStack. Topics addressed include:
  • Securely managing cloud-based data and resource sharing
  • Identity and access management
  • Single sign-on in a federated cloud environment
  • Security in federated community clouds
  • OpenStack Keystone security service
  • OpenStack Swift object store service


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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Cloud Computing at the Potomac Officer's Club


Across the Federal IT landscape, terms like “cloud”, “cloud computing” and Software as a service (SaaS) are at the center of a seismic shift by the agencies away from building and managing every aspect of their IT infrastructure and services.   The potential benefits of cloud computing within the Federal IT landscape are well known, and, the fact is that the role of every CIO across “.Gov” has shifted in a way that makes cloud very difficult to ignore.

The CIOs that lead the Federal government agencies are no longer solely responsible for the management of IT, but now face the added pressure of supporting business growth by reducing costs and driving innovation in a concerted effort to build a strategic advantage for their Agency.  One part of the solution is certainly the cloud.  Cost savings,  elasticity, scalability,  “load “bursting”, storage on demand…  these are the advertised benefits of cloud computing, and they certainly help make for a solid business case for any Agency to use either third-party services or a virtualized data center.

Join DBT Data at this must-attend Potomac Officers Club Cloud Computing event, where we’ll bring together technology leaders from across the GovCon industry and Federal thought- leaders actively deploying cloud services within their Federal agencies. We’ll review the program goals and benefits of FedRAMP, and other cloud initiatives across the Federal government. And, like all Potomac Officers Club events, the discussion will be lively, informative and interactive. Speakers include David McClure (GSA) John Pescatore (SANS Institute), Michele Weslander-Quaid (Google) and Keith Trippie (DHS).


Date: December 5, 2013
Time: 7:00am - 9:45am
Member Price: $125.00 Guest Price: $175.00

Location: 2941 Restaurant
Address: 2941 Fairview Park Dr.
Falls Church, VA 22042
Garage & Valet Parking Available



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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

NRRC Video Series - Video 2 : Building the Cloud Infrastructure


In September, the NCOIC delivered the Geospatial Community Cloud (GCC) demonstration.  Sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, this demonstration showed how an interoperable, hybrid-cloud operating environment can be quickly enabled and used as a rapid response capability.While this demonstration was designed around lessons learned in the 2010 Haitian Earthquake, the effort showed how a cloud services brokerage approach could be used to quickly provide critical information technology infrastructure support to an unplanned event.

The NCOIC is an international organization for accelerating the global implementation of network centric principles and systems--to improve information sharing among various communities of interest for the betterment of their productivity, interactivity, safety, and security. The NCOIC Rapid Response Capability (NRRC) video series supports that mission by broadly disseminating information about the GCC demonstration for the good of the global community.

In "Video 2 : Building the Cloud Infrastructure" ,  Kevin Jackson, vice president and general manager of NJVC Cloud Services, describes the demonstration scenario and builds the cloud infrastructure in a matter of minutes. Topics addressed include:
  • Cloud Service Brokerage
  • Cloud Infrastructure Management & Auditing
  • Cloud Service Aggregation
  • Geospatial Service Pooling

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Monday, November 25, 2013

NRRC Video Series - Video 1 : Introduction and Overview

In September, the NCOIC delivered the Geospatial Community Cloud (GCC) demonstration.  Sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, this demonstration showed how an interoperable, hybrid-cloud operating environment can be quickly enabled and used as a rapid response capability.While this demonstration was designed around lessons learned in the 2010 Haitian Earthquake, the effort showed how a cloud services brokerage approach could be used to quickly provide critical information technology infrastructure support to an unplanned event.

The NCOIC is an international organization for accelerating the global implementation of network centric principles and systems--to improve information sharing among various communities of interest for the betterment of their productivity, interactivity, safety, and security. The NCOIC Rapid Response Capability (NRRC) video series supports that mission by broadly disseminating information about the GCC demonstration for the good of the global community.

In "Video 1:Introduction and Overview" , Tip Slater, NCOIC director of business development, gives an overview of the project and the interoperability vision. Topics addressed include:




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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

NCOIC To Rollout Open Process for Creating Secure, Hybrid IT Computing Environments


Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium to offer capability to organizations that seek to combine traditional and cloud infrastructures for greater efficiency and mission success

WASHINGTON-November 19, 2013-Next month, the http://kevinljackson.com/Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) will introduce an open pattern that will enable governments, agencies and businesses to create a secure, hybrid IT environment quickly and cost effectively. Cloud computing expert Kevin Jackson has been named to lead the team that will assist organizations in adopting the process, known as the NCOIC Rapid Response Capability (NRRC), into their operations. “The NRRC was initially developed for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to test the ability of an open cloud environment to quickly collect, store and share geospatial information in a complex disaster situation,” said Jackson. “We have refined the process with checklists, rules and patterns so it can promote information exchange and collaboration for a wide range of needs, including emergency response, humanitarian assistance and rapid IT infrastructure deployment.”

Jackson was part of the NCOIC industry-government team that demonstrated to NGA leaders in September the rapid capability of building a community cloud and populating it with applications. The demonstration included a simulation of a major earthquake and showed how a multinational team using different technology platforms could plug into the cloud and work together toward a common goal.

Jackson is a specialist in information technology solutions that meet federal government operational requirements. He has been part in the collaborative effort between industry and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology on the federal government’s adoption of cloud computing technologies. He is author of the “Cloud Musings” blog, founder and editor of Government Cloud Computing electronic magazine, and author of two books on cloud computing.

Prior to joining NCOIC, Jackson was vice president and general manager of Cloud Services at NJVC, where he was responsible for all aspects of the business unit, including development and implementation of cloud service offerings and delivery. During his 25+-year career, he has been vice president of Federal Systems at Sirius Computer Solutions, worldwide sales executive at IBM, vice president of the Global IT Project Office at JP Morgan Chase, and chief technical officer at SENTEL Corporation. He also served with the National Reconnaissance Office in the Operational Support Office, where he provided tactical support to Navy and U.S. Marine Corps forces worldwide. During his career with the U.S. Navy, Jackson held specialties in Command & Control and Space Systems Engineering while accumulating over 2500 hours and 230 carrier landings flying E-2C and C-2A aircraft.

As the NCOIC’s rapid deployment capability executive, Jackson and his team will work will international government organizations and the cloud computing community in implementing the NRRC process. In addition, Jackson will oversee the activities of the NCOIC Cloud Computing Working Group.

The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium works to enable cross-domain interoperability in and between such areas as aerospace, civil and military operations, air traffic management, health care and more. NCOIC is an international not-for-profit organization with more than 50 members and advisors representing businesses, government agencies and organizations in 12 countries. It has a nine-year history of developing world-class skills and tools that help its members and customers operate effectively across diverse global market sectors and domains.

For more information on the Consortium and the NRRC open process, visit www.ncoic.org.

###

Contact:
Diana Eastman
NCOIC Communications


Diana.Eastman@ncoic.org

562-494-3505 



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Friday, November 15, 2013

So what kind of consultant are you?

Yesterday over lunch, a good friend of mine from the Limelight Marketing Group and I started talking about my recent transition. As you can imagine being in the DC metro area our discussion centered on the many business challenges associated with sequestration and our deadlocked government leaders. After a short while, she then hit me with the quintessential question,"So what kind of consultant are you?"

Elevator speech time!!

"Our baseline offerings are social media, business analytics, cyber security and hybrid information technology (IT) ecosystems. The modern organization continually engages its customers, constituents and stakeholders through social media. Analytics provides institutional knowledge of those customers needs and wants. Cyber security protects your customers, their transactions and your business processes. Finally, your hybrid IT ecosystem delivers your essential business processes - commerce, offering catalog, service delivery and customer support - through a cloud-based business engine."

The reply,"Sounds nice, and I have no doubt you can do all those things, but they just don't seem to go together."

My jaw dropped and images of me standing in the unemployment line flashed before my eyes. The elevator speech had failed to show relevance and value.  Even worse, I had probably confused a prospect by presenting a seemingly jumbled and unrelated list of questionable capabilities.

Later as I was putting salve on my wounds, I realized that the conversation was actually indicative of the new environment in which we all find ourselves. Information technology has consumed our lives with social media being indicative of how our personal and business lives are now blended. The importance of the virtual in many ways has transcended that of the physical and organizations are struggling with the reality of it all. Changes in culture, policy and business models are rampant and we all need to work together to figure this thing out.

So good, bad or indifferent, I'm the kind of consultant that can leverage the linkage between seemingly unrelated things in order to further your organizational purpose, be that public service, national security or shareholder value.

Can I be of service?

For an appointment go to http://www.vcita.com/v/kevinljackson


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Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Time is Now for 21st Century Leadership

I've just had the opportunity to preview my good friend Melvin Greer's newest effort, "21st Century Leadership: Harnessing Innovation, Accelerating Business Success". Now in pre-release, this book highlights the compelling linkage between internet scale technology, advance business models and the need for forward thinking leadership.

From the vantage of hindsight, I can see how my own professional career has been molded by the global changes Gartner describes as the Digital Industrial Revolution.  In my consulting engagements, I've characterized this environment as the confluence of four major transitions:

  • Physical assets to Digital Assets;
  • Labor based operations to Automated operations;
  • Serial business processes to Parallel business processes; and
  • Bill of Material based commerce to Value based commerce.
These transitions dynamically interleave to fundamentally change our social, political and business environment. This in turn drives radical rethinking of the cultural, policy and business model status quo. "21st Century Leadership: Harnessing Innovation, Accelerating Business Success" is the leadership guidebook for this new era.

 "It is more important than ever for leaders to re-examine the current leadership models that take a fresh look at their contribution to innovation. Melvin Greer, Senior Fellow, Chief Strategist Lockheed Martin, is an advocate for a new leadership and innovation model where leaders can incorporate cutting edge innovative technologies, mature new leaders and inspire future innovators. Melvin will show you how to become an innovative leader in his new book “21st Century Leadership: Harnessing Innovation, Accelerating Business Success”.





Put this on you Christmas list, or better still, click the image to the left sidebar and pre-order now !!

 
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