GSA moves all 17,000 employee email accounts to the cloud

GSA completed its conversion from IBM's Lotus Notes software to Google Apps for Government, an online tool that employees can access anywhere on any device. Earlier, employees needed to log on to the agency network to read email, share documents and chat.

In announcing the $6.7 million project last December, GSA officials said the shift would cut costs in half over a five-year contract period, in part by reducing equipment and staffing needs. With Web-based services, or "cloud computing," third parties manage information research hardware and software on behalf of multiple customers at their own server farms.