SAP’s Tom Padgett, Laura Grant: Agencies Should Pick Cloud Partners Committed to Security, Innovation

Tom Padgett and Laura Grant of SAP (NYSE: SAP) have said agencies should partner with a cloud service provider with a capability to innovate and offer security.

Grant and Padgett wrote about the potential benefits to agencies of handing the responsibility to innovate to cloud providers.

œBy shifting that responsibility to a cloud service provider, agencies don™t need to be concerned about networks and infrastructure as long as they are making sure that the cloud vendors are meeting their service-level agreements, they noted.

œThe cloud frees agencies to focus on mission-critical activities and other projects they couldn™t do before because they didn™t have the time or capability from a technology perspective.

Grant and Padgett called on agencies to find a cloud vendor that considers user-centered design and could integrate natural language processing and other tech advances into systems without interrupting daily operations and missions.

Agencies should collaborate with their cloud providers™ security professionals especially if they plan to adopt services through the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.

œWhen they™re considering partners or services through FedRAMP, agencies should carefully consider what impact level they need for a particular activity in order to ensure security and flexibility in their operations, they noted.

Padgett is a senior vice president at SAP and Grant is head of the company™s digital innovation.

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