The US Army is now a Google Workspace customer
Google Workspace signs up another major customer
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A quarter of a million US Army soldiers will be usingcollaboration toolGoogle Workspaceafter entering into a partnership with the tech giant.
GoogleCloud made itsannouncementlast week, after the service was grantedImpact Level 4 authorization by the Department of Defensein July, which sanctions its use for handling controlled unclassified information, such as that pertaining to defense and intelligence.
The partnership comes off the back of the creation of the company’s new division, Google Public Sector, responsible for providing its cloud-based services to local and federal public institutions in the US, in order to streamline their operations.
Google Workspace in the public sector
Due to the unique challenges of military employment,hybrid workingand collaboration is commonplace. Google Public Sector cites their service’s ease of use as a fundamental reason for its suitability for use in the Army.
Google is also partnering with cloud infrastructure company SADA, which specializes in setting up organizations with Google Cloud, to help ease the transition for the Army’s personnel.
The ever-increasing threat of cybercrime in a military context has seemingly undeterred the US Army in deciding to adopt such a sizable cloud computing initiative. That confidence may come from Google Workspace’szero trustpolicy, currently considered to be the gold standard in cloud security.
In simple terms, any user, regardless of their location, needs to be authenticated before they are granted access.
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Common methods of enforcing zero trust include 2-factor authentication (2FA), which requires the user to have another device, typically a smartphone, from which to verify their identity and grant access to the service in question on their primary device.
The US Army deal is just another example of how Google’s cloud offerings are drawing attention from public sectors across the globe.
Check out our list of the best office software right now>More and more companies are spreading their data over public clouds>CASBs – How to make the public cloud feel private
In 2020, the UK Governmentsigned a dealwith Google Cloud to bring cloud computing to public sector services like the National Health Service (NHS). While in 2022, the state of New Yorkannouncedthat it would partner with Google Public Sector to bring cloud computing to an air quality monitoring initiative.
Cloud computing has its benefits in a world that has sustained a shift to hybrid work. However, whether Google’s zero trust policies can continue to protect ordinary people’s data amidst a growing reliance on the cloud remains to be seen.
Lewis Maddison is a Reviews Writer for TechRadar. He previously worked as a Staff Writer for our business section, TechRadar Pro, where he had experience with productivity-enhancing hardware, ranging from keyboards to standing desks. His area of expertise lies in computer peripherals and audio hardware, having spent over a decade exploring the murky depths of both PC building and music production. He also revels in picking up on the finest details and niggles that ultimately make a big difference to the user experience.
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