VMware’s Bill Rowan: Agencies Need to Build Zero-Trust Environment, Refine Processes for Cloud Adoption

Bill Rowan, vice president of federal sales at VMware, told MeriTalk in an interview published Wednesday that federal agencies that plan to migrate to the cloud should build a “zero-trust environment.”

“In a cloud environment, there is a need to micro-segment a network, so every single app has its own individual set of firewalls, provisioning, and rules, and the need to authenticate every time a user needs to get into an application,” Rowan said.

“Irrespective of where the application is, unless a person has the right credentials or workgroup or business unit, they are not going to get into the application,” he added.

Rowan, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, also called on agencies to continue to build up their methods and processes in order to experience the advantages associated with cloud migration as cloud platforms tend to change the way users ask support for applications.

“If you are not shutting down the application when you are not using it, or logging out completely, you are still getting billed,” he said.

“In that, and many other ways, cloud infrastructures are forcing federal agencies to refine the way they operate.”