March 8, 2011 -- The Obama administration is mandating federal IT professionals look to the cloud first. Just last month Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra published the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy giving examples and targets. The report identifies $20 billion in potential targets for the cloud.

David Linthicum has over 20 years of experience in the world of high technology. He has written 13 books. His latest is Cloud Computing and SOA Convergence in your Enterprise: A Step-by-Step Guide. Linthicum is the founder of Blue Mountain Labs.

The interview with Linthicum discusses many of the implications of moving to the cloud. He talks about the frustration of unfunded mandates and he says if you had a room full of federal CIOs they would all agree with the move to the cloud - the question is, how to fund it. Linthicum also discusses some new job titles - like "cloud project manager" and "cloud strategist."