14 DAY TRIAL // The United States Department of Defense has signed a partnership with Microsoft to upgrade no less than 4 million computers to Windows 10, but it turns out that the Redmond-based software giant is close to scoring another important win.
The Pentagon’s Joint Regional Security Stacks wants to increase adoption of Windows 10 and Azure cloud services, with the goal of bringing no less than 90 percent of the systems in its network on Microsoft’s most recent desktop operating system.
Former DOD Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen has recently explained that the goal is now to cut the physical server footprint, so investing more in cloud services seems to be the logical step to take. At the same time, he revealed that the DoD wants to switch to commercial solutions rather than stick with software developed for the government that is losing support very fast and costs more.
“It’s the first time we have done all this with completely off-the-shelf equipment. That’s a big culture change that I think will sustain,” Halvorsen said. “Let’s start moving at the speed industry can move.”
Windows 10 recently received NSA’s certification
Microsoft recently announced at the RSA conference that Windows 10 and Surface devices had been cleared by the NSA for classified use, with the company obviously using this occasion to praise the security features that the two products come with.
“Both Windows 10 and Surface devices including Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book have been added to the NSA’s Commercial Solutions for Classified Programs (CSfC) list. The CSfC program listing demonstrates Windows 10, as well as Surface devices (the only Windows 10 devices currently on the list), when used in a layered solution, can meet the highest security requirements for use in classified environments,” Microsoft announced.
The US DoD is projected to complete the migration to Windows 10 on its 4 million computers by the end of this year, with all departments currently transitioning to the new OS after hitting some roadblocks like app compatibility issues and hardware limitations.