Cloud Computing in Government (Cloud Smart)

Cloud Smart is the federal government's strategy for cloud adoption, issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 2019 as a successor to the earlier Cloud First policy. Where Cloud First directed agencies to consider cloud solutions before alternatives, Cloud Smart introduced a more nuanced, security-first approach that evaluates security, procurement, and workforce factors together before migrating any workload. The strategy accelerated commercial cloud adoption across civilian and defense agencies and created a sustained market for contractors who provide cloud services, migration support, cloud-native development, and managed security operations.

What is Cloud Smart?

Cloud Smart builds on three pillars: security, procurement, and workforce. On security, Cloud Smart aligns federal cloud adoption with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which provides a standardized security authorization framework for cloud service offerings sold to the government. Agencies are directed to use FedRAMP-authorized cloud services and to apply Zero Trust Architecture principles to cloud deployments consistent with Executive Order 14028 and OMB Memorandum M-22-09.

On procurement, Cloud Smart encourages agencies to use existing contract vehicles such as GSA's Multiple Award Schedules, Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), and agency-specific contract vehicles that already hold FedRAMP-authorized offerings. The General Services Administration's catalog of FedRAMP-authorized products streamlines the procurement process by pre-vetting security authorizations that would otherwise require individual agency review.

On workforce, Cloud Smart directs agencies to train existing staff and hire cloud-skilled personnel rather than relying entirely on contractor support. In practice, this creates demand for contractors who can deliver cloud training, develop cloud governance frameworks, and operate cloud environments while agency staff build internal capacity.

Why it matters for contractors

Cloud Smart created a sustained procurement wave that shows no sign of slowing. Defense agencies operate under the DoD Cloud Strategy, which overlaps with Cloud Smart principles but adds classification-level requirements including DoD Impact Levels (IL2 through IL6) that govern which cloud environments can host sensitive and classified workloads.

Contractors pursuing cloud work must understand that FedRAMP authorization is the gateway to the federal market for cloud service providers. Without a FedRAMP authorization, a cloud offering cannot be procured by federal agencies under normal acquisition procedures. For contractors who resell or integrate third-party cloud services, the FedRAMP authorization must be in place before the service is incorporated into a federal solution.

Migration contracts typically require cloud adoption framework assessments, application portfolio analysis, and phased migration planning. Agencies increasingly require contractors to demonstrate expertise in cloud-native architectures, Infrastructure as Code, and DevSecOps pipelines as a condition of award.

Example

A mid-size IT contractor wins a task order to migrate a civilian agency's legacy data center to a commercial cloud environment. The contractor performs an application portfolio assessment, classifies workloads by data sensitivity, and maps each workload to an appropriate FedRAMP-authorized cloud service. Legacy systems carrying Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) are migrated to a DoD IL4-equivalent commercial cloud environment. The contractor delivers a Cloud Adoption Framework aligned with OMB Cloud Smart guidance and trains agency staff to operate the new environment before transitioning operations.