GovDataHosting was proud to sponsor the inaugural CMS Cloud Fusion Summit, held September 30, 2026, at Martin's West in Baltimore, Maryland. The event brought together federal leaders, acquisition professionals, cloud service providers, and industry partners to discuss the future of cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and modernization across government.
A central theme of the summit was that cloud modernization is not about organizing an agency around a single cloud provider. Instead, agencies need mission choice: the ability to select the right environment for each workload based on performance, security, cost, technology requirements, and future growth.
One Mission, Many Clouds
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) used the summit to share its vision for Cloud Fusion, a hybrid, multicloud ecosystem that gives CMS technology teams real choice across Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and the CMS Private Cloud. These environments are tied together by shared identity, security, policy, and governance.
CMS summed up its approach in a simple phrase: "one mission, many clouds, no seams." The cloud is no longer a single destination. It is a landscape, and the real question is where each workload can achieve the best mission outcome. Achieving that vision requires early collaboration among planning, architecture, engineering, and acquisition teams, which helps agencies avoid costly course corrections later.
CMS Cloud Fusion's New Multicloud Tools and What They Mean for Contractors
Wade Zarriello, Director of the Infrastructure and User Services Group at CMS, introduced the Cloud Fusion flagship toolkit, a set of CMS-developed tools that support teams throughout their cloud journey:
- Match helps teams choose the right cloud environment for each workload by comparing their requirements against what each cloud provider offers.
- Helix gives CMS control over how workloads are governed, applying the same policies consistently across every cloud environment.
- Lens helps CMS optimize cloud spending by providing one governed view of costs across all environments.
For government contractors supporting CMS, these tools signal how cloud work at the agency will be planned and managed. Hosting decisions are likely to be shaped earlier in the project lifecycle, governance policies will be applied consistently across every environment, and cloud spending will be more visible and accountable. Contractors that understand multicloud governance, security compliance, and cost management will be better positioned to support CMS as Cloud Fusion matures.
AI Is Changing the Cloud Conversation
AI was a major focus of the summit. In a keynote fireside chat moderated by CMS Chief Information Officer Patrick Newbold, leaders from AWS, Microsoft, Google Public Sector, and Oracle shared how AI is reshaping what agencies need from their cloud environments.
A recurring theme was flexibility. Agencies want to adopt new AI capabilities without rebuilding the systems they already have, and to keep their options open as models evolve. AWS pointed to Amazon Bedrock, which gives agencies access to multiple foundation models through a common API. Microsoft emphasized model diversity and embedding tools such as Microsoft Copilot directly into everyday government workflows.
Panelists also stressed that AI is only as effective as the data and security behind it. Getting the data layer right early helps agencies avoid endless integration cycles as they scale. Security by design and strong governance become even more important as agencies move toward agentic AI, where AI agents interact directly with data, applications, and other systems. Oracle highlighted how AI can help with fraud detection while reducing the need to replicate data, and how AI agents can improve security through capabilities such as autonomous patching.
Across the panel, one message was consistent: AI capabilities must be interoperable across multicloud environments, with appropriate governance and security controls.
Cloud Economics and Acquisition Matter
Lawrence Hale, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Acquisition Solutions Development, Federal Acquisition Service at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), discussed category management and the concept of "buying as one," highlighting GSA's OneGov initiative and its use of government buying power and pre-negotiated discounts.
CMS leaders also emphasized that cloud optimization is about more than cutting costs. Greater visibility into cloud spending drives accountability and helps agencies redirect resources toward mission priorities. Financial operations (FinOps) practices bring financial and engineering expertise together to understand consumption, manage costs, and continually optimize cloud environments.
Building Trust at Scale
As agencies adopt multicloud and AI technologies, security remains foundational. David Bobrosky, Security Operations Contractor Information Systems Security Officer, presented "Building Trust at Scale: Security, Governance, and Operational Excellence." He discussed vulnerability management, configuration management, logging, prevention, and modern compliance. With vulnerabilities emerging rapidly and cloud environments becoming more interconnected, agencies need security controls that operate continuously and scale without slowing the mission.
Supporting the Federal Mission
For GovDataHosting, sponsoring the CMS Cloud Fusion Summit was an opportunity to engage with federal leaders and industry partners on the challenges and opportunities shaping government cloud.
The future of federal cloud is not about choosing one provider. It is about creating an environment where agencies can select the right technology for the right workload, adopt emerging AI capabilities, maintain strong security and governance, and continuously optimize performance and cost. As the summit made clear, one mission can span many clouds, and the goal is to make that experience as seamless, secure, and mission-focused as possible.
Learn more about GovDataHosting's secure, FedRAMP-certified cloud hosting for federal agencies, available through our GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract.