Hashmi headed to cloud storage company Box
Newly departed General Services Administration CIO Sonny Hashmi is taking his talents to the West Coast to join cloud storage and collaboration company Box.
Box announced Thursday that Hashmi will lead the company’s efforts in the federal government space, helping agencies transition to Box’s platform as part of the Box for Industries initiative.
While not known for its work in the federal government, Box already claims more than 40 customers in that space, “with agencies and departments servicing healthcare, military, educational, judicial, legislative and regulatory components of the U.S. Federal Government using Box to be more efficient, streamlined and agile,” according to a release.
Hashmi announced his departure from GSA last week, leaving the agency without two of its most innovative leaders of the past few years. Former GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini, a champion for IT in his three years of service, suddenly stepped down from his role in February.
Appointed acting CIO in January 2014, Hashmi was named GSA’s official CIO last May, a capacity in which he managed a $600 million IT budget. Before that, he served as the agency’s deputy CIO since 2011 under then-CIO Casey Coleman.
Hashmi was no stranger to the cloud during his time at GSA, influencing the move to a cloud email and collaboration system within the agency. Recently under Hashmi’s lead, GSA expanded its cloud offerings through a $100 million blanket purchase agreement with Aquilent.
“With Box, federal agencies have the opportunity to both save millions of dollars by moving off legacy systems as well as to create a much more agile and iterative approach to government IT, all while ensuring the protection and security of critical content,” Hashmi said in a statement. “I am excited to join this innovative company and play a significant role in establishing a strategic vision for the transformation of federal IT.”
GSA Deputy CIO David Shive will assume the acting CIO role in Hashmi’s absence.
“The federal government has made significant moves toward deploying cloud systems, consolidating data centers and reducing redundancy in government IT, driving more efficiency and better collaboration,” Box CEO Aaron Levie said in a release. “We are excited to continue to support and accelerate these major trends, and Sonny’s innovative leadership is just what the industry needs to accelerate the adoption of cloud and mobile technologies. We’re incredibly thrilled to have him join Box and help drive our momentum and growth in the federal space.”
FedRAMP compliant
Box, which went public in January, also announced Thursday that it will pursue Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, compliance to better scale its federal offerings. The Defense Information Systems Agency is sponsoring Box’s FedRAMP journey through the program’s Agency Authorization Path.
“The rigorous approach the Defense Department takes when evaluating new technology will dramatically benefit other agencies and non-governmental organizations alike, and we’re grateful to be collaborating with them on this,” Levie wrote in a blog post.
