Looking for the word "cloud" in press releases these days is  much like looking for the surname "Jones" in Wales; a challenge easily met by even the slowest and dullest amongst us.

So I was reading a new release from IceWEB and James River Technical about a potentially massive new contract with NASA, which references "Unified Data Storage and building blocks for cloud storage networks." The release doesn't explicitly say what part, if any, of the new contract will embrace it.

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Here's an outtake:

"IceWEB...has been awarded a sub-contract under the NASA Solutions for Enterprise- wide Procurement (SEWP) IV Government-Wide Acquisition Contract # NNG07DA10B. The contract for information technology equipment and services is a four-year contract that expires 4/30/2014 and has an estimated value of up to U.S. $5.6 billion.

"As a prime contract holder on NASA's SEWP IV GWAC, JRTI, Inc. works with a host of government agencies and end-users to design, deliver and support information technology solutions within the federal government market. JRTI has strategic alliances with leading IT providers like Dell, Cray, NVIDIA and others to offer the latest in technology solutions."

"We're working hard to distinguish ourselves by bringing innovation and a fresh approach to the delivery of IT product solutions in the federal market," said Leo Iantosca, CEO at JRTI. "IceWEB offers storage solutions that are sought after in the federal marketplace. Working together, we will be able to create more exposure for IceWEB storage while providing our Federal customers with the industry leading products they need."

"We are pleased to work with such a well regarded organization as James River Technical to team in providing mission critical solutions to the government marketplace," stated John R. Signorello, CEO of IceWEB. "Having JRTI include our family of products on the NASA SEWP IV contract significantly shortens the procurement path for federal customers that require the latest in data storage features for virtualization and cloud computing."

The last sentence at least implicitly states that cloud storage and NASA will be happy together. Let's see what role cloud storage will play here in the coming months and years...

• IceWEB Features Cloud Computing Products
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