U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra unveiled “Apps.gov,” an online marketplace that’ll enable federal agencies to find and purchase cloud-based IT services. In response, industry vendors’re announcing future “dedicated” cloud services designed to meet the government’s security and privacy standards. Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite “dedicated” cloud environment’s already in compliane and has been deployed and in use by a variety of businesses and government organizations with intense security and privacy requirements. “Microsoft Online Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), operated under the same program, is aggressively pursuing ISO certification to be achieved by end 2009. In addition to meeting this International Standard, we anticipate that the Business Productivity Online Suite will achieve FISMA Accreditation in Q1 2010,” MOS blog.