Defense Details Systems Agency (DISA) Reimagines Cloud Brokerage: A New Era of Efficiency and Customer Focus

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is revolutionizing its approach to cloud solutions, shifting from simply offering services to becoming a true partner in digital transformation. Launched two and a half years ago, DISA’s hybrid cloud broker office is doubling down on customer relationships, introducing innovative feedback mechanisms, and enhancing IT financial management. This strategy aims to streamline cloud adoption and ensure that the Department of Defense (DoD) gets the most value from its technology investments, making “cloud financial operations” top priority.

A Customer-First Approach: understanding “Why” Before “What”

Unlike conventional sales-driven models, DISA’s hybrid cloud broker office embraces a “why before what” engagement strategy. This means the team focuses on deeply understanding the specific challenges faced by combatant commands and defense agencies before recommending any solutions. By prioritizing operational goals, timelines, and budgets, DISA ensures that cloud solutions are precisely tailored to meet the unique needs of each client.

This consultative approach marks a important departure from merely pushing products like the joint warfighting Cloud Capability or Stratus. It’s about listening, understanding, and then crafting the right cloud strategy.

Strengthening Customer Relationships: Feedback is Key

The hybrid cloud broker office is implementing a Salesforce-backed system to gather continuous feedback through surveys and ITSM ticketing feedback loops. This allows DISA to gain real-time insights into the performance of its cloud offerings and address any issues promptly. By actively soliciting and responding to customer feedback, DISA is fostering stronger, more collaborative relationships.

This proactive approach ensures that cloud solutions not only meet initial expectations but continue to deliver value over time.

Improving IT Financial Management: Maximizing Every Dollar

A key focus for DISA is helping agencies better understand and manage their cloud spending. With tighter budgets, its crucial to ensure that every dollar is used effectively. DISA aims to provide strategic partners with clear insights into their cloud consumption and help them optimize their spending.

“As we get better at providing consumption based solutions, how do we get the strategic partner to better understand were their spend is at and how can we be a part of that with them in with the feedback loops that we have so that they can be more effective and efficient, especially given the smaller budgets that we all have these days,” says Jeff Marshall, DISA’s J9 Hosting and Compute director.

Mirroring Commercial Best Practices: A Modern Approach

DISA’s hybrid cloud broker office is structured much like a commercial technology firm, complete with a sales arm, a customer success team, and a dedicated marketing function. This modern approach allows DISA to provide a level of service and support that rivals the best in the private sector.

Case Study: U.S. European Command

One compelling example of DISA’s impact is its work with U.S. European Command. Initially, the command believed it needed to replicate its entire IT environment to meet continuity of Operations (COOP) requirements. DISA’s hybrid cloud broker office helped the command to identify only the top 10% of mission-critical workloads that truly needed COOP support.

“A lot of the old kind of thinking is if I have to COOP something, it has to be 100% of that environment. But we actually can say, ‘No, you don’t need to do that. Let’s look at what your top 10% of your production,and let’s just COOP that over to DISA tier III core data center that’s new,that can sustain without power and cooling and everything else,’” Marshall said.

This targeted approach saved the command significant resources and streamlined its operations.

Redesigning HACC.mil: A Vendor-Style Portal for the Future

DISA is redesigning its public-facing site, HACC.mil, into a modern, vendor-style portal. This portal will allow mission owners to explore services, articulate their technical challenges, and eventually interact with AI-powered self-service tools.

“In the future, we want to integrate AI chat bots into it. We want to integrate the ability for a strategic partner to come to the site and say,‘this is what my problem is. This is what my challenge is’ and have the site actually help them through that so that by the time they actually need to talk to somebody, they already have a good idea, and we already have a good idea, of what they’re trying to achieve, and then we can just get to it and get them in and out the door faster, in a more agile, flexible manner,” Marshall said.

the new HACC.mil aims to provide a seamless and intuitive experience, empowering users to find the right solutions quickly and efficiently.

The Path Forward: AI-powered Self-Service

Looking ahead, DISA plans to integrate AI chat bots into HACC.mil.These AI tools will help strategic partners diagnose their challenges and identify potential solutions before even speaking with a representative. This will streamline the entire process, making it faster and more efficient.

Summary of DISA’s Hybrid Cloud Broker Office Initiatives

FAQ Section

how will DISA’s new customer-focused approach and AI integration impact the overall cost savings for DoD agencies adopting cloud solutions?

DISA’s Cloud Revolution: An Interview with Director Anya Sharma

Archyde News – The Defense Information Systems agency (DISA) is currently reimagining its approach to cloud solutions, focusing on customer needs and financial efficiency, which is something we at Archyde are always eager to report on. To delve deeper into these significant improvements, we sat down with Anya Sharma, the recently appointed Director of Cloud Strategy and Innovation at DISA, and discussed the agency’s cutting-edge initiatives and its impact on the digital change of the Department of Defense.

Anya,welcome to Archyde. From your outlook, what are the key drivers behind DISA’s shift towards a more customer-focused model?

Anya Sharma: Thanks for having me. The core of our transformation stems from a basic shift in mindset. We’re moving away from being just a provider of cloud services to becoming a strategic partner for our clients. We noticed that a lot of success was achieved by truly understanding the “why” behind our client’s requests. Frequently enough, by understanding the strategic goals, we can create the best technological plans.

The “why before what” principle is an interesting concept. How does this approach practically influence interactions with the DoD agencies?

Anya Sharma: It means we start by listening. We sit down with the combatant commands,the defense agencies,and we really listen to their pain points,their operational goals,their timelines,and their budget constraints. Before we even mention a specific cloud product like the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, we make sure we fully understand their unique challenges. only then do we begin crafting a cloud strategy tailored to their specific needs.

Feedback seems crucial to this new strategy. Could you elaborate on the role of salesforce and the feedback loops?

Anya Sharma: Absolutely. We are heavily investing in a Salesforce-backed system that allows us to gather continuous feedback. Through surveys and ITSM ticketing feedback loops, we gain real-time insights into how our cloud offerings are performing.This gives us the data and feedback quickly to address issues promptly. This allows us to proactively improve the effectiveness of our services going forward.

Looking internally, how is DISA boosting IT financial management and helping agencies optimize their cloud expenditure?

Anya Sharma: Managing cloud spending is a critical component.With the right visibility, optimizing spend is much more achievable. We’re working with what we are calling “strategic partners” to have clear insights into their cloud consumption. We hope to give our partners a strong handle on where their money goes, and with that help, they should be able to operate more efficiently.

Let’s talk about the reimagined HACC.mil portal. What’s the vision behind transforming it into a vendor-style platform?

Anya sharma: We are redesigning HACC.mil to provide a much better user experience. We want the user to have more control over their cloud experience. They will be able to explore services, articulate their particular challenges, and eventually engage with AI-driven chatbots to find solutions. The goal is self-service to help speed the process and make it an easier one.

AI and the impact it will have. The idea of using AI-powered chatbots is engaging. How do you envision this AI integration transforming the user experience?

Anya Sharma: We are extremely excited about it. Imagine a strategic partner coming to HACC.mil, describing their IT challenge and, then, before even interacting with a human, the AI helps them identify a potential solution. This streamlines the entire process. We want to make the path to the cloud easier than ever, with AI a vital part of that streamlining process

Anya, thank you for your insights. This is promising news as DISA helps shape the future of cloud management. One question for our readers: What are your thoughts on the potential impact of AI on government IT service delivery? We’d love to read your comments below.