Defense Department to Start Deploying Secret-Level Cloud Collaboration Suite

The Department of Defense is rolling out a classified version of Microsoft Office 365 in October across the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s 17 components, including users in the Pentagon compound and the Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia.

Danielle Metz, OSD’s chief information officer, said the move to roll out DOD365-Secret is one of the department’s initial attempts at secret-level cloud use and will consolidate old tools senior leaders have relied on to discuss classified information, Federal News Network reported Friday.

In an interview with Federal News Network, Metz explained that classified environment users in the past have had to use “old-school chat services” to collaborate. DOD365-Secret would allow such personnel to benefit from the same cloud-based communication and work capabilities available to unclassified users, she added.

According to Metz, implementing classified cloud capabilities mitigates the need for users to figure out the collaboration process by themselves.

Earlier in 2023, the Defense Information Systems Agency announced that it would start user pilots for DOD365-Secret after completing functional product testing for features such as SharePoint and OneDrive.