New IT Policy Emphasizes Renting, Not Buying The Obama administration wants a “disruptive” change in federal IT policy, moving to cloud computing and purchase of services rather than infrastructure ownership. “There is a huge shift in federal IT,” federal Chief information officer Vivek Kundra said. “We want to make sure the shift is disruptive.” He spoke Feb. 25 at a forum sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association in Bethesda, MD, Federal Computer Week reported. “We want the federal government to move away from asset ownership and shift to service provisioning,” he added. He said moving federal email systems to the cloud and consolidating data centers is just the first step, with wider moves to come beginning next year. He said transitioning email to the cloud has already saved $15 million for the Agriculture Department and $6 million for GSA. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be set up as the first agency with “zero asset ownership.” But Kundra warned that some IT contractors are stuck “in the status quo” and may not be ready for radical change. Overhaul IT acquisition has been Kundra’s major focus. He has shut down some large programs that were behind schedule over budget and ordered changes in others.