US Army soldiers will be using collaboration tool Google Workspace after partnership with the tech giant
Following the establishment of a relationship with the industry giant, a quarter of a million members of the United States Army will have access to the online collaboration tool Google Workspace. The announcement was made by Google Cloud last week, following the service’s receipt of Impact Level 4 authorization from the Department of Defense in July. This authorization authorizes the service to be used for the handling of controlled unclassified information, such as that pertaining to defense and intelligence. The partnership is the result of the company’s recent creation of a new division called Google Public Sector, which is tasked with delivering the company’s cloud-based services to state and federal government agencies in the United States in an effort to improve the efficiency of those agencies’ daily operations.
The military job environment presents its own set of obstacles, so hybrid working arrangements and teamwork are becoming increasingly widespread. According to Google Public Sector, the simplicity of their service is the primary factor that makes it ideal for deployment in the military, particularly in the Army. In addition, Google has formed a partnership with cloud infrastructure provider SADA, which specializes in helping businesses get set up with Google Cloud, in order to facilitate an easier transition for the troops of the Army. The United States Army appears to be unfazed by the ever-increasing risk of cybercrime in a military setting, as seen by the fact that it has decided to undertake such a significant cloud computing effort. This confidence may have been inspired by the zero-trust strategy implemented by Google Workspace, which is presently regarded as the industry standard for cloud security.
To put it another way, each user, regardless of where they are, must first go through the authentication process before they will be allowed access. Two-factor authentication, also known as 2FA, is a common way of imposing zero trust. This authentication method requires the user to have another device, most commonly a smartphone, from which they may verify their identity and authorize access to the service in question on their primary device. The agreement with the United States Army is just one more illustration of how public institutions all over the world are showing interest in Google’s cloud solutions.
The United Kingdom government inked an agreement with Google Cloud in the year 2020 to implement cloud computing across the public sector, including the National Health Service (NHS). In the year 2022, the state of New York made an announcement stating that it would form a partnership with Google Public Sector to include cloud computing in an effort to monitor air quality. Computing in the cloud offers a number of advantages in a society that has witnessed an increase in the prevalence of hybrid employment. Even so, it is still not clear if Google’s “zero trust” policies will be able to protect people’s data even though they are using cloud storage more and more.