Amazon taps ex-FBI official to develop gov't cloud business

Amazon.com, like other tech companies, is eyeing the federal government as a potential customer for cloud computing services. So far, Amazon has kept its Washington, D.C. strategy under wraps. But it has made a key hire: a former FBI official who's been talking up the online retailer's web services in the nation's capital.

The Amazon hire, CJ Moses, is "leading their charge at the federal government," said Peter Mell, a senior computer scientist and cloud computing project leader at the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology. Moses' LinkedIn profile indicates he was formerly an FBI Assistant Section Chief and is now a senior manager, technical services at Amazon, based in D.C. He's been turning up at cloud computing events in the D.C. area.

Amazon has created something called "Amazon Government Solutions" and is targeting federal agencies, the Department of Defense, and government contractors as web services customers, according to a January job posting. But the company has said little else about its government strategy. The Washington Post in a recent story described the efforts to various tech companies to market cloud computing services to the government, but the article shed little light on Amazon's specific efforts.

Since launching its web services unit in 2006, Amazon has targeted startups, large enterprises, and the scientific community as customers. Federal agencies -- with their large IT infrastructures and budgets -- would be a big potential market, if Amazon can address the government's information security needs and standards.

Asked about Amazon's strategy with federal agencies, Amazon spokeswoman Kay Kinton said, "Like many businesses that are looking to become more efficient, there are government agencies looking to do the same.  We do have employees in the DC area focused on a variety of efforts, with government agencies being just one of many."

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