DTA launches Cloud Assessment Tool

The Digital Transformation Agency has launched Cloud Assessment Tool (CAT), a new toolkit aimed to help federal government agencies evaluate whether to use particular cloud services.

The new tool is designed to address the most common questions agencies have about the suitability of cloud services, including issues surrounding data classification, privacy, data offshoring and the procurement of cloud services.

It was developed based on input from a number of agencies, which reported that they often struggled to understand their compliance obligations.

CAT also includes a number of non-compliance-related criteria such as whether a given service has transparent pricing, is elastic and can be automated, and offers a pay-for-use model.

While the tool is not designed to provide authoritative answers about whether to use a cloud service, the questions included are intended to promote discussion with stakeholders, risk managers and decision-makers within an agency.

CAT is able to deliver consistent reports whenever a questionnaire is completed, so decision-makers can compare recent assessments with earlier ones.

To ensure accessibility and consistency with other government websites, CAT has been created using the Australian Government Design System and is being deployed over cloud.gov.au.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/urbancow

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