By adopting the financial operations framework, the Army can control and predict costs while maximizing the benefits of cloud computing.
In 2018, then-Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy made a significant decision to support the migration of the Army’s finance and logistics systems from on-premises data centers to commercial, cloud-computing facilities. Since then, the cloud revolution has taken firm hold across the service, bolstered by the establishment of the Enterprise Cloud Management Agency in March 2020 and the recent publication of updated guidance within the Army Cloud Plan 2022.
One of the seven strategic objectives of the plan is to provide cloud cost transparency and accountability. To prevent underutilized services and unexpected, avoidable costs, the plan says the Army will use “a combination of enterprise-provided common services and cloud consumption tracking for all cloud consumers.”