Horizon Data Center Solutions Receives FISA Certificate and ATO

Horizon Data Center Solutions, a leader in the virtualization and data center industry, recently announced in a press release that it has received a formal “Authority to Operate” (ATO) as a cloud computing solutions provider to the federal government after completing a lengthy eight month Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliance process.

“With this ATO, Horizon’s purpose built cloud is officially open for government business, and Horizon and EyakTek are ready to take the lead in helping federal agencies save money by accessing the incredible potential of our highly secure, cloud-based services,” said Lance Black, CEO of Horizon, in a press release. 

Horizon Data Center teamed up with its federal technology integration partner, Eyak Technology, LLC (EyakTek), for FISMA compliance process. The team of Horizon Data center and EvakTek has become the first contractor team to receive FISMA Certification and an ATO to provide Cloud Storage, Virtual Machines, and Cloud Web Hosting to federal government agencies via GSA’s (News - Alert) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA).

During the FISMA process, Horizon’s vStructure IaaS was tested under an eight month Assessment and Authorization (A&A) process on more than 750 different control points to ensure performance against government security standards for both business continuity and disaster recovery.

Jodi Kohut, director of Cloud Services for EyakTek, said agencies will find cloud solutions save money. They also eliminate redundant, antiquated, and underutilized infrastructure and provide a scalability that has not been available before.

“We chose Horizon as our technology partner on the IaaS BPA because they have built an environment that ensures that government agencies no longer have to worry about having enough capacity to meet their constituent’s needs. Agencies get access to state of the art technology and unlimited capacity, and the government is not paying for expensive data centers or equipment they do not need,” Kohut said.

“The government’s A&A process is a major test for any system, requiring thirty times the testing and validation that is required in a typical commercial audit, such as a SAS (News - Alert) 70 Type II audit, which is considered the industry standard for world class data center services. This is a huge validation that should offer additional confidence to commercial enterprises that are another large part of our business,” Black said.

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Rahul Arora is a TMCnet contributor. He has worked as an editor and freelance writer for several reputed organizations in India. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell