Top officials at the Department of Defense (DoD) are getting first use of the department’s secret-level version of Microsoft 365 delivered in an Impact Level 6 (IL6) cloud environment – and aptly named DoD365-Secret – a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk.
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has been piloting the new cloud service since January. DoD365-Secret – the department’s first-ever cloud environment authorized to host classified data – aims to provide tools for warfighters to operate ahead of adversaries and meet their missions anytime and anywhere while bringing consistent capabilities across the networks.
According to the department, the integration will enable seamless chat, video conferencing, and real-time document collaboration within a secure cloud-based environment, representing a significant technological leap for the defense sector.
The new cloud environment includes Exchange, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 Apps enabling secure collaboration among users.
The DoD is continuing to actively migrate users to the secret level of Microsoft 365, the Pentagon spokesperson said.
Currently, DoD365-Secret is deployed to users across the 17 components of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, mainly in the Pentagon itself and in the nearby Mark Center in Alexandria, Va.
More than 100,000 DoD users have completed initial migration, providing them with modernized office productivity and collaboration tools on the Secret IP Routed Network. Component migrations across the department will continue over the coming months as more users transition to this capability set.
