NPS IT Leaders Talk Cloud Computing, Security During Regional CIO Consortium
Today@NPS
NPS IT Leaders Talk Cloud Computing, Security During Regional CIO Consortium
By MC2 Michael Ehrlich
Joe LoPiccolo, Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director, Information Technology and Communications Services (ITACS), welcomed senior information technology leaders from regional DOD, academic and civilian organizations throughout the Monterey Peninsula to the NPS campus, Aug. 20, for the latest gathering of the Monterey Peninsula CIO Council.
“Today, we’re talking about cloud operations and our acceleration into the cloud through our advanced contracts with partner vendors,” said LoPiccolo. “We’re also talking about our networking initiatives, and the icing on the cake, the new Cyber Security Operations Center (SOC).”
Led by ITACS’ Director of Cyber Security Bob Goodwin, the SOC provides NPS with an advanced situational awareness, in real time, of the university’s critical .EDU network.
Goodwin offered the consortium an overview of the center, and how it will expand the capabilities of NPS’ IT team by being able to handle incidents in real time, rather than relying on firewalls and safety measures running in autopilot. Now, Goodwin says, there will be specialists manning these systems around the clock, capable of taking immediate action on issues or potential failures.
“We discussed the development of the SOC and why we went to 24/7 manning ... We really had a major transformation of the space over the past few months,” Goodwin noted.
From the layout to the furniture to the integration of advanced cyber security systems, tools and monitors, the effort is beginning to bear fruit, he says.
“It’s been a lot of work trying to get the space built,” Goodwin added. “From paint to the new video system, furniture and cubicles … it’s all been one big dance.”