Cloudonomics Journal

Cloud Computing Expo on Ulitzer

PHASE 2 International announced that its comprehensive portfolio of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications is now available on the federal government’s Apps.gov Website. Among the first on the new site—and the first to offer IBM/Lotus applications via Apps.gov—PHASE 2’s comprehensive portfolio of SaaS business software is now easier than ever for government clients to access and use to succeed.

Apps.gov is an online store for government agencies that are required to use the GSA schedule. The site was designed to help them to find, purchase and use SaaS and other cloud computing services with the knowledge that they have already been screened, and government prices negotiated. All applications available on the site, including the full PHASE 2 portfolio, are GSA approved for use by federal agencies.

Rex Wang with Jeremy Geelan, Cloud Computing Expo Conference Chair, during his November 4 keynote at the Santa Clara Convention Center

“This important new resource for government agencies further proves that SaaS and other cloud computing applications and resources are no longer the wave of the future – they’re recognized as being the best solution now,” said Kevin Doherty, PHASE 2 CEO. “We’re thrilled to be at the center of it — with our SaaS products available on Apps.gov—as President Obama’s progressive initiatives for technology accessibility are being reached. These productivity-enhancing applications make as much sense for government as they do for businesses.”

According to the Apps.gov Website, “Cloud computing plays a key role in the President’s initiative to modernize Information Technology (IT) by identifying enterprise-wide common services and solutions and adopting a new cloud-computing business model. The Federal CIO Council under the guidance of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO), Vivek Kundra, established the Cloud Computing Initiative to fulfill the President’s objectives for cloud computing.”

All of PHASE 2’s most popular hosted solutions are now available on Apps.gov under PHASE 2’s GSA schedule (GSA contract #GS-35F-0312U, in partnership with FOUR, Inc.) including email, collaboration, CRM, document management, social networking, project management and others. Packages include the first IBM Lotus Notes, Quickr, Sametime and Connections offerings available on Apps.gov, as well as Exchange, CRM, Project Server and SharePoint from Microsoft. Under the SaaS model, licensing costs are based solely on monthly usage and there are no up-front costs. Included in the monthly charges under the GSA schedule are hosting fees, software licenses, data migration, customization, training and 24x7 support. Applications are provided in a high-availability configuration and come complete with client software.

For more information on PHASE 2’s portfolio of SaaS applications, or the company’s GSA schedule, visit www.phase2.com/GSA.