Lawmakers File Bills For Cloud Storage Of Data

During the 86th Legislative Session, lawmakers will consider improvements to the state’s data centers. In 2005, the Texas Legislature created twin data centers to centralize data management operations at several state agencies.

Since that time electronic information has become the preferred source for additional agencies and the cost to run the facilities has escalated. Under the state’s current 2-year spending plan, it costs about $489 million to operate the centers.

The plan is to utilize private companies who own private networks of remote servers that can store the information in the cloud.

Cloud storage is purchased from a third-party cloud vendor who owns and operates data storage capacity and delivers it over the Internet in a pay-as-you-go model.

These cloud storage vendors manage capacity, security and durability to make data accessible to a user’s applications all around the world.

Senate Bill 819 was filed Feb. 13. It would require state agencies to consider cloud-based storage options when creating new government software applications.

House Bill 1096, filed Jan. 26, would create a technology modernization fund that agencies could use to pay for a transition to cloud-computing services.

This was originally published by Strategic Partnership Inc.