Lockheed Martin test lab to boost cloud testing

Aiming to improve the suitability of tendered cloud and other software solutions for its needs, defence and government giant Lockheed Martin is opening a software testing laboratory in Canberra that will let potential vendors demonstrate their solutions against Lockheed Martin’s requirements. The NexGen Cyber Innovation & Technology Centre, also known as NCITE, will give Lockheed Martin more involvement in the types of solutions its partners pitch, potentially also helping smaller businesses offer more relevant solutions for its needs. The company is lead contractor for a number of major defence contracts including the MH-60R helicopter contract, F-35 Lightning II, Air Warfare Destroyer and other solutions. Motivation for the lab came from a desire to work more closely with the many suppliers it involves in these projects; in particular, the lab will become a major test facility for compliance with emerging cloud-computing guidelines being developed by the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), in which Lockheed Martin is a lead participant. The more than 300 ODCA members are working through a range of usage model- based cloud technology descriptions including a four-tier security model that will ease the comparison of cloud offerings from different vendors.