VA to test cloud collaboration for docs

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to test commercial cloud-based collaboration tools to improve communications and reduce data breaches that have occurred from previous use of tools not approved by the department. The VA is looking for vendors that offer an established cloud-based offering for email, calendaring, and other collaboration tools that can integrate with the VA's existing Microsoft Exchange-based collaboration system, according to a request for information posted on FedBizOpps.gov. The current VA system includes Exchange calendaring, SharePoint, and Active Directory, which the department has said it may replace with a cloud-based system for 600,000 employees. In that effort, the department is looking for a contractor to help it migrate its entire backend email system--comprised of Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint servers, an email archive system, BlackBerry software, and storage and back-up systems--to a hosted cloud environment, according to a request for information it posted online for potential contractors.