OREANDA-NEWS. General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been selected as a cloud services broker by the state of Texas Department of Information Resources. General Dynamics’ CloudBroker portal is now available to all state and local agencies and public education institutions – in Texas and other states – that are seeking a single point of contact to procure, manage and integrate public, private and hybrid cloud services and resources.

“Texas is paving the way for all state agencies to benefit from the flexibility and cost savings of cloud computing,” said Charlie Plummer, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Information Technology’s IT Solutions sector. “We have the right experience to help state agencies reduce cloud acquisition and contracting costs as well as save valuable time in procurement.” 

General Dynamics offers several advantages to state customers seeking a single-source provider for all their cloud computing needs. As a full-service broker, General Dynamics provides a self-service portal that lets agencies quickly identify preferred providers and execute orders online. In addition, General Dynamics employs a nationwide workforce that’s available immediately to help agencies from all states, counties and municipalities to leverage the Texas contract to rapidly provision and manage their own cloud services. 

General Dynamics’ CloudBroker online portal provides a cloud brokerage and management platform specifically for federal, state and local agencies. This platform, based on Gravitant, Inc.’s industry-leading cloudMatrix platform, has been used by large commercial clients that must balance stringent requirements for security with the need for an agile IT environment, including global financial services and manufacturing companies. 

The portal enables agencies to compare cloud offerings, estimate charges, govern acquisitions, manage costs and capacity and maintain full situational awareness across multiple cloud providers. Additionally, General Dynamics facilitates contract negotiations between agencies and cloud providers and provides government-specific workflow tools that automate purchase approval, including real-time cost estimation and consolidated billing.

General Dynamics is a leader in providing cloud computing and security solutions to government customers. In addition to cloud brokerage services, the company designs, builds and sustains cloud solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense and the intelligence community, including supporting the Department of Defense Enterprise Email Program that will provide email for 4.5 million users worldwide by 2016. General Dynamics was also selected to provide cloud computing services through infrastructure-as-a-service and email-as-a-service blanket purchase agreements issued by the General Services Administration.