U.S. Army soldiers are now being offered Google Workspace as a potential solution to previous IT issues, months after the service quietly began testing it with users.
C4ISRNET reports that the Army is on the verge of deploying Google for a shortfall of Microsoft 365 licenses. According to Army Times, this would have left dozens of thousands of troops without access to email or other collaboration tools.
Google’s Workspace package passed the Critical Infrastructure Protection Security Level (IL4) authorization in July. This is a significant achievement that has been noted by many other platforms. Google also attained FedRAMP High authorization months prior to this achievement.
The Army deal was made possible by the credentials.
Iyer wrote that new Army troops entering the Army now receive Google Workspace accounts already. He also confirmed that the last remaining Defense Enterprise Email users will be transitioned to Army Google Workspace over the next few days.
Roughly 250,000 troops will get the new service, which Google confirmed in a blog post. The number aligns with the shortage of Microsoft 365 licenses that Army Times previously identified.
After working with the Air Force Research Laboratory and various other federal agencies, Google Workspace is no stranger to government entities. The Army Software Factory was also an early adopter, so they’ll be joining permanently.
Beta Testing
At first, the platform was considered a front-runner for troops whose access to official email has been revoked due to the transition from Defense Enterprise Email (DEE) and its mail.mil address to the newer Army 365 system. Though Army 365 includes an army.mil email address, the service decided not all soldiers required it.
Iyer told C4ISRNET and Army Times in July that the Army is committed to providing Soldiers with the communication and collaboration capabilities they need to complete their missions. The CIO added that more information was coming soon.