The Department of the Navy (DON) Cloud Policy memo of Dec. 7, 2020, co-signed by Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition) (ASN (RDA)) and DON Chief Information Officer (CIO), provides updated policy for the accelerated promotion, acquisition, and consumption of cloud services in the DON. The DON's Cloud Policy directly supports the DON Information Superiority Vision of Feb. 14, 2020, and the Department of Defense CIO's "Interim Guidance for Implementation of Department of Defense Cloud Strategy" memo of April 16, 2020.

The DON Cloud Policy memo states:

• The DON shall maintain its global strategic advantage by harnessing the power of data and information systems through cloud computing. Cloud computing is the primary approach to transforming how the DON delivers, protects, and manages access to data and applications across all mission areas. Cloud computing shall be adopted and consumed in such a way as to maximize its inherent characteristics and advantages.
• The DON cloud computing environment shall ensure effective support for the full range of missions and data classifications with a purposefully orchestrated multi-cloud, multi-vendor strategy that focuses investments on limiting duplication, reducing inefficiencies, and accelerating digital modernization efforts.
• All new software and software development shall leverage the inherent characteristics of cloud computing services, shall maximize use of enterprise cloud services, and shall support continuous integration/continuous delivery to the maximum extent possible that both mission requirements and technical capabilities allow.
• The DON shall follow a path toward a unified DoD Enterprise Cloud Environment (DECE) in accordance with the DoD Cloud Strategy using DoD approved enterprise cloud solutions, so long as they can support the DON workload and mission owner requirements. When DoD approved enterprise cloud solutions cannot support validated DON mission owner requirements, DON acquired Fit-for-Purpose Clouds (FPCs) shall be allowed on a case-by-case basis based on a formal assessment and approval process managed by DON CIO.
• All cloud computing services in the DON shall be acquired, provisioned, and their consumption monitored via the DON's Naval Digital Marketplace https://cloud.navy.mil. The Naval Digital Marketplace shall be managed and maintained by the DON’s Program Executive Office for Digital and Enterprise Services (PEO Digital).
• The DON’s Naval Digital Marketplace will be continuously updated by PEO Digital to provide visibility, awareness, and access to all DoD approved cloud contracts which may include, but are not limited to, commercial, Federal, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Air Force, and Army cloud contracts, in addition to existing Navy and Marine Corps cloud contracts.
• Within ninety (90) days of issuance of the DON Cloud Policy, PEO Digital shall coordinate with DON Deputy CIO (Navy) (DDCIO(N)) and DON Deputy CIO (Marine Corps) (DDCIO(MC)) to develop and publish a single DON cloud services acquisition and delivery plan for both Naval Services and all Secretariat organizations.
• Within one hundred and twenty (120) days of issuance of the DON Cloud Policy, DDCIO(N) and DDCIO(MC) shall develop and publish their respective Service-level cloud implementation plan(s) or similar documents to address both common and Service-unique, mission requirements and internal business processes required to implement the DON Cloud Policy.

For more information and best practices on adopting cloud in the DON, check out the NavalX Playbook on Cloud, available at: https://intellipedia.intelink.gov/wiki/NavalX_Playbook_-_Cloud  

To read the full DON Cloud Policy memo, visit https://www.doncio.navy.mil/ContentView.aspx?id=14189.