Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online part of a new US government cloud push

Microsoft has announced that Dynamics CRM Online will join Office 365 and Azure in a new government cloud offering as part of the "all-up Microsoft government cloud initiative."

What that means is that the Dynamics CRM Online for government (the US government, that is) will be a separate instance for government customers in compliance with FedRAMP and operated by U.S. citizens. It will be available in Q1 of CY 2015. FedRamp (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program), is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. Azure was granted FedRAMP joint authorization board provisional authority to operate in the fall of 2013.

The service will allow US government customers to use their Microsoft investments on-premises and in the cloud through hybrid cloud capabilities including integration with the Azure and Office 365 government community clouds, according to company officials. And datacenters supporting the program are isolated from the Microsoft Azure public cloud, and are geographically distributed to support business continuity scenarios. Cloud infrastructure is key, but it is the finished services such as Azure Active Directory (AD), data, mobility and productivity alignment that will continue to set Microsoft's cloud vision apart.

State and federal agencies already rely on Dynamics CRM to handle everything from grants to field inspections and more. Now, federal government business users will be able to access to their critical workflows and applications "anytime, anywhere, any device," officials said.

As public sector agencies face increasing pressure to cut costs while improving services, they're turning ...