Qwest Government Services (NYSE: Q) is the latest service provider General Services Administration (GSA) Networx Universal contract holder to gain approval to offer Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service (MTIPS). As an Office Management Budget (OMB) Trusted Internet Connections (TIC)-compliant service, Qwest will extend its MTIPS Internet security solution to federal government customers in a cloud-based environment.
To ease the federal government's process to meet their MTIPS deadlines, the General Services Administration (GSA) has developed a government-wide Authority to Operate (ATO). While Qwest waits to receive its government-wide ATO, federal agencies can issue an interim ATO to Qwest to order MTIPS.
Time is of the essence for federal agencies to get their respective MTIPS orders in place. An OMB directive mandates that all federal government agency external network connections have to be routed through MTIPS TIC access points by Jan. 31, 2011.
Qwest is not the only service provider on the MTIPS trail. Earlier this month AT&T Government Solutions (NYSE: T) received its ATO to provide MTIPS services under the OMB Trusted TIC initiative.
For more:
- see the release here
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