Virginia Governor Ralph S. Northam

Importance of the Initiative

The Commonwealth of Virginia must ensure that we are continuously evaluating how information technology services are delivered to those who live and work in our state. Services provided by the Commonwealth must keep pace with the marketplace.   A key part of achieving this goal is to ensure that the Commonwealth of Virginia aggressively incorporates the use of cloud technologies into Commonwealth information technology service delivery models.   The Commonwealth’s definition of cloud services can be found in the VITA Information Technology Resource Management (ITRM) Policies, Standards and Guidelines (https://www.vita.virginia.gov/it-governance/itrm-policies-standards/).

As with any technology, cloud services must be implemented in a manner that continues to ensure the availability, security, and privacy of Commonwealth and citizen data. This requires ongoing oversight and management to ensure compliance through Service Level Agreements and other means.

Leveraging cloud services models will allow the Commonwealth to:

• Speed up delivery of business solutions through faster paths to production;
• Provide flexible solutions capable of quickly adapting to new and changing business solutions;
• Reduce operations and maintenance requirements for basic needs such as power and space;
• Provide transparency so that customers are more aware of what they get for their money;
• Provide service elasticity to support increased citizen needs at peak times; and
• Provide a structure that allows for a more resilient environment in the case of a disaster or service outage.

Within 60 days of this Executive Order, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) shall adopt a model for evaluating and incorporating cloud services where appropriate to support information technology (IT) services.   

VITA shall also develop governance documents in support of this cloud approach that address requirements for evaluating new and existing IT for cloud readiness.   This process, which shall apply to Executive Branch agencies as defined in § 2.2-2006 of the Code of Virginia, will include details regarding the following areas:

Development of New IT Applications and Solutions

• As of the effective date of this Executive Order, all new IT solutions proposed for development must either be cloud-enabled or have a documented exemption approved by the Commonwealth Chief Information Officer (CIO).
• Agencies shall minimize in-house development of custom IT solutions and applications and leverage cloud solutions if recommended by VITA’s cloud governance process.

Existing Systems/Applications Cloud Enablement

• Agencies shall evaluate the continued use of dedicated hardware supporting premise-based IT solutions.
• Agencies shall develop formal processes to enable application development and business services to evaluate cloud service options when deploying, updating, or investing in existing IT solutions.

All agency cloud solutions shall adhere to VITA security and infrastructure policies, standards, and guidelines that will be located in the ITRM Policies, Standards & Guidelines. All agency cloud solutions shall be obtained through VITA’s services as outlined by the agency unless otherwise approved by the CIO.

Agency Reporting

• VITA shall collect information from each agency indicating the percentage of physical and virtually deployed IT system components as well as cloud-ready workloads.
• By December 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, each agency shall identify each system’s cloud-readiness status (cloud-ready or not cloud-ready) and report this information to VITA, unless granted a temporary or permanent exemption by the CIO.
• By January 15, 2019, agencies shall provide to VITA information regarding resource requirements necessary to make systems cloud-ready within their IT strategic plans, unless granted an exemption by the CIO.
• This information shall be evaluated by VITA for cloud-readiness as part of the IT strategic planning process.
• By June 1, 2019, VITA shall report to the Secretary of Administration on the status of identifying cloud-ready systems within the Commonwealth.
• Beginning September 1, 2019, VITA shall report annually to the Secretary of Administration on the progress of migrating systems identified as appropriate for cloud solutions.

Effective Date of the Executive Order

This Executive Order shall be effective upon signing and shall remain in full force and effect until December 31, 2021, unless amended or rescinded by further Executive Order.

Given under my hand and under the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia this 17^th Day of September, 2018.