Microsoft's Cloud Computing for US Intel Agencies

Microsoft has reached an agreement to provide 17 US intelligence agencies with its cloud-computing platform, The Washington Post reported.

According to the media outlet, citing the company's executives, the new deal will allow it to move intelligence agencies’ computer systems onto Microsoft Office 365 apps and add some cloud-based apps that had previously been unavailable to them.

“From a Microsoft perspective, this shows that the intelligence community has trust in our cloud. If the intelligence community can trust our cloud, then the federal government can, the Defense Department can,” said Dana Barnes, vice president of the company’s joint and defense agencies business unit.

The agreement on the cloud-based technology came as part of contract renewal between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Dell, which is subcontracting government work to Microsoft.