The Department of the Navy has issued a memorandum establishing a software containerization policy to boost operational agility and drive resiliency and optimization of DON investments.
Jane Rathbun, DON’s chief information officer and a two-time Wash100 awardee, signed the Containerization Technology Usage memo with Brett Seidle, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.
Rathbun will be one of the keynote speakers at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26. Save your spot now to hear her and other experts discuss the latest tech advancements, policies and more at this event.
In a LinkedIn post published Wednesday, the Office of the DON CIO said the document applies to all new software development and modernization initiatives operating in cloud environments with enterprise container platforms or DevSecOps pipelines.
Transforming DON’s IT Infrastructure Through Software Containerization
According to the memo, software containerization could help transform DON’s software deployment and IT infrastructure by enabling it to deploy applications across highly varied environments while accelerating development cycles, improving security and reducing computing resource overhead.
Prioritizing containerization tech usage supports DON’s mission-critical operations and aligns with its software modernization goals.
Exceptions to Software Containerization Policy
The memo states that potential exceptions to the policy may include alternative cloud scaling capabilities, production representative digital twins or virtualization technologies for hardware in the loop.
All requests for exceptions must include a detailed justification that addresses tech limitations, mission impacts, cost and cybersecurity risk assessment, and should be submitted to the designated cybersecurity technical authority.
