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information Why Cloud Computing Is Not Just A Technological Evolution in Government?

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We all know cloud computing is gaining widespread adoption. The buzzword these days in the IT field is probably cloud computing. However, is government giving due consideration and importance to cloud computing for its activities? The answer we all know probably is a NO. Let’s study as to how cloud computing is beneficial and factors making ‘cloud-first’ policies stimulating to realise.

Objective: Reduction in Governmental Waste
In the US presidential race of 2016, a lot of discussions can be witnessed in health care, education and the overall economy. However, not much focus was given on real structural changes in order to streamline the federal system. How can the government become more efficient? The best way is to deploy technology that has disrupted and eventually strengthened organisations throughout the marketplace. The Government has to look for ways to work together because of a lot of pressure to deliver efficient services within stringent budgets allocated. Fostering collaboration- the ability of the enterprises got a huge boost with the rise of mobiles, applications and cloud. Such tools help federal agencies to develop programs and ideas internally- reaching out to vendors, affiliates as well as to the general public as desired.

There is no doubt that such technological developments have helped government departments, but something that has been tricky here is the transition. It is not easy to deploy cloud for collaboration also providing stable consideration towards security issues and the desire to form systems which are reasonable yet robust. Tools cannot compromise on being user friendly when programs are progressively being gauged and funded based on the employees’ and public’s experience.

According to Gartner, cloud computing, infrastructure and analytics are the top priorities of government. Almost half of government organisations are enthusiastically using cloud services. However, many independent standards are in place to evaluate the credibility and legitimacy of service providers to back federal services. One should use partners that are completely fully compliant with the FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorisation Management Program) and have SSAE 16 audited datacenters, meeting balances and checks established by the American Society of CPAs.

Benefits and Apprehensions of Cloud Computing for Government Enterprises
We all know the benefits of cloud computing. Similarly, making a move to the cloud will be beneficial for the government and would be an improvement. Facilitation of projects between two or more agencies and management of vendors will be easy. It will be easy for the staff to share data and files making them broadly accessible to the team on multiple devices. According to Gartner, CIOs in the private sector have given due importance to these reasons and they are increasingly in favor of cloud.

Many few IT decision makers are supporting and adopting “cloud-first” perspective. According to a study by MeriTalk, out of four, three IT decision makers would take a move to the cloud yet don’t want to lose control of the infrastructure. Out of four, only one said they were cautious about cloud hosting service providers. While some believed that they couldn’t leave the legacy approach due to security requirements and data sovereignty.

A survey from Market Connections reported further ways in which government enterprises can benefit from cloud. Moreover, enterprises that didn’t make the switch marked security as one of the reasons for their decision. Affordability was also mentioned. Three out of five respondents reported that deploying cloud is more cost effective that deploying servers on premise.

What’s the issue?
In last few years, both the United Kingdom and United States governments have decided to switch to cloud as early as possible. However, the expected transition has not taken place. The main reason behind this action is because enterprises are worried about security issues. Moreover, government CIOs are loaded with complex legacy IT environments which on the other hand should be modernised and simplified.

Only 37% of the government workers in the United Kingdom feel confident in the cloud environment. The situation is similar in the United States. Since deploying and making a transition to the cloud is not one click process, challenges in terms of blocking out a time to shift to the new environment, reviewing providers’ security parameters, and a sense of lacking the appropriate skills or insights for deployment and management are faced. Enterprises want to avoid these challenges.

The crux is that a lot of government projects are shared between one or more agencies or are interdepartmental. Instead of deploying cloud, time consuming and less secure approaches are being used.

Creating the Switch
CIOs at government agencies should understand that moving to cloud is not a technological revolution but also a cultural revolution. It is important to address the issues associated with security. Hesitation still lies to make a transition to the cloud as people are unsure about service providers. Though, you can feel confident while working with a service provider that follows the standards and guidelines established by the federal government and other agencies.
 
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