Cloud computing is driving digital transformation across industries and is becoming prominent in both, the private and public sectors.

The private sector has generally been the torchbearer when it comes to adopting new technologies and innovations but that’s no longer the case. Over the last few years, governments and public sector companies are embracing digital transformation and are adopting cloud computing to improve their efficiency, responsiveness, and productivity.

According to E-Commerce Times, the annual federal spending on cloud computing is expected to grow from $6.8 billion in 2020 to an estimated $7.3 billion in 2021 and $7.8 billion in 2022. According to Bloomberg, federal agencies spent $6.6 billion on cloud computing in the 2020 fiscal year, which is up from $6.1 billion in 2019. Whichever numbers you believe, the trend is clearly sharply upwards! In fact, Neville Cannon of Gartner comments that national government and public sector agencies “typically see the cloud as a long-term pathway to strategic IT modernization.”

Having said that, some peculiar considerations apply to cloud computing technology in the public sector. Through this article, we shall discuss both these aspects of the cloud in the public sector.

 

Let us first see why the public sector must adopt the Cloud:

 

1. Better mobility

Time is now of the essence when it comes to the public sector or government organizations. Using the cloud platform, public sector employees can now provide more timely services driven by faster access to organizational data.

Cloud-based mobility is a key benefit when government employees may be on the move and require vital information to complete a task. This has become even more relevant when the pandemic made thousands of federal and public sector employees remote workers forced to work from home. As the cloud allows data storage and access from any location, this ensures that both employees and other stakeholders can access and share any information, tools, or systems (even from their mobile phones).

 

2. Improved Customer Services

Can public sector companies leverage Cloud capabilities to provide better customer services? Yes! Cloud technologies and tools have proven effective in enhancing employee productivity and work efficiency. For instance, public sector organizations can use better collaboration tools for their employees that ensure improved coordination between different government agencies working with each other. Given the plethora of tools available on the cloud, it is also possible to automate processes, create intelligent workflows, and deliver relevant information to users as well as citizens faster. This helps improve the user and customer (citizen) experience.

Similarly, cloud platforms can help government agencies provide a variety of enhanced services to their citizens. For instance, using the cloud, government agencies can create efficient citizen portals with powerful self-service options that can be used to improve responsiveness and immediacy.

 

3. Faster Innovations

By tapping the power of fast-evolving technologies, public sector companies have the opportunity to implement new and improved methods to deliver services to citizens. However, this will be extremely hard to do without the cloud. Turning to bespoke systems or completely on-premise options based on existing systems generally comes with considerable implementation delays. The main reason behind this is their old IT infrastructure and legacy systems that are not open, flexible, or conducive to “new ideas.”

Using the cloud, these organizations can reduce implementation time as they have immediate access to system resources (as and when they are needed). Effectively, the cloud can expedite the process of adopting newer innovations and ideas thus improving agility and resilience.

 

4. Cost Reduction

Each year, government and public sector enterprises need a bigger IT budget to maintain their existing IT infrastructure, which includes physical data centers and in-house maintenance. Adding infrastructure is expensive and maintaining legacy infrastructure may be even more so. This need not be the case with cloud platforms.

Cost reduction is a major benefit for these public sector organizations migrating to the cloud. No longer do they need to upgrade or maintain cost-intensive legacy systems. They can replace them with cost-effective (or even free) cloud tools.

Effectively, the cloud can help the public sector save millions of dollars each year by replacing their expensive legacy infrastructure with cost-effective cloud-based models. Apart from that, the cloud-driven “pay-on-demand” model can further reduce operating costs as they allow organizations to pay only for the resources that have been consumed. In the long run, this helps in reducing the IT budget for the public sector.

Despite its many benefits, public sector companies are still reluctant to use the Cloud in many areas. Next, let us talk about some Cloud-related challenges faced by the public sector.

 

Let us see why the public sector must not adopt the Cloud:

 

1. Unsure About Choosing the Right Cloud Services

Among the major cloud-related roadblocks faced by the public sector, decision-makers are not sure about what type of cloud they should opt for.  73% of the public sector companies have limited knowledge of which type of cloud to be procured or to price it accurately. Additionally, less than 50% have a clear understanding of cloud security requirements.

As a result, IT procurement executives in the public sector do not understand the technical nuances of cloud technology and are confused by the sheer variety of options.  This makes the choice of a better and faster cloud model much more challenging and time-consuming in the public sector.

 

2. Untrained Workforce

In continuation with the previous point, over 60% of the public sector workforce have received inadequate training about cloud computing. This includes not only those in charge of procuring the latest cloud solutions but also those who would be working daily on the Cloud platform. Many public sector employees simply don’t have the necessary skills in the latest cloud technologies.

Similarly, employees working in the public sector for a long time will find it challenging to move from their “traditional” legacy applications to newer cloud tools and technologies. Hence, public sector companies often end up spending immense amounts of time and money in training and preparing their workforce for the cloud.

 

3. Moving to a New Set-up

Cloud migration marks a significant paradigm change that is completely different from the traditional IT setup used in public sector enterprises. This move to the cloud may become a complete shift at the process, application, and system level. It may entail changes in workflows, approval processes, performance monitoring and management, and budgetary processes. These changes are non-trivial. Public sector organizations looking to adopt the cloud may often balk at the sheer scale of the migration challenge. While the cloud can be cost-effective in the long run, the initial move will incur high costs, which doesn’t make the decision any easier for public sector enterprises.

 

And one wild card!

 

1. Enhanced Security

This is a wild card because of the rapid changes in the security scenario in the cloud. Data protection and security have been among the most visible concerns about the cloud. As government agencies have continued to face a barrage of cyberattacks in recent times, they do need the highest level of security systems that can protect sensitive data. This has often been held against the cloud decision. But things are changing quite rapidly.

So, how does Cloud computing address the security needs of public sector agencies? Through the following ways:

  • Cutting-edge cybersecurity tools along with timely data backups. This includes cloud security capabilities like risk assessment, vulnerability analysis, and incident detection.
  • Easy access to Cloud services that comply with regulations such as FedRAMP.
  • Data governance using a unified cloud platform that provides complete visibility over all elements of your infrastructure.

As the dust settles, security may shift from being a major concern to a major benefit of the cloud.

 

Conclusion

For public sector enterprises, the benefits of moving to the cloud certainly outweigh its few challenges.  A proper plan and roadmap can help them meet these cloud-related challenges. Once implemented, cloud technologies can enable the public sector to be a lot more efficient and productive which will, in turn, lead to better citizen services.

With its public sector focus, Trinus has gained several years of experience in providing the right cloud computing solutions. Our technology experts are trained to help our customers move to and benefit from the cloud.

Looking for the right cloud implementation partner? Feel free to contact us.