Public-sector cloud computing: the good, the bad, and the ugly - Juice Filling Machine Manufacturer

But overall, progress is slow: Federal agencies are struggling tocomply with the U.S. government's "cloud first" mandate , and state and local government entities, which tend to be lesswell funded, are even further behind. As noted by CIOs and technology vendors at the TechAmerica conference on public-sector computing in February, the cloudallows government agencies to decrease their costs and deploysystems more quickly -- all good news. And as in the privatesector, cloud computing can enable public entities to devote fewer resources today-to-day tasks like maintenance, so they can focus on moreimportant things, like improving services and increasinginnovation. But there's also bad news -- and some ugly realities -- when itcomes to cloud computing in the public sector.

Current and formerpublic-sector CIOs say it can be difficult to drag governmentagencies forward. It remains to be seen whether government CIOswill be able to convince politicians and bureaucrats that cloudcomputing is the antidote for the financial and technologicaldoldrums they're experiencing. The state of the state (and the county, and the city...) A March 2012 survey conducted by Government Executive magazine,co-sponsored by Cisco Systems, found that government entities significantly lag behind the private sector when it comes to cloud deployments. The report's findings were based on responses from 429 governmentexecutives and managers in 10 countries, as well as responses from808 private-sector executives. Of the government executives whoresponded, only 12% said that more than 10% of their agencies'overall annual IT resources were allocated to the cloud in 2011.While researchers expect those percentages to grow by the end ofthis year, even doubling them wouldn't represent a significant move to the cloud.

A more-optimistic 2011 survey by Red Shift Research put the penetration of cloud computing inthe public sector at 23%, compared with 42% in the private sector. Either way, Thom Rubel, an analyst at research firm IDC GovernmentInsights, concurs that the cloud computing adoption rate is lowerin government than it is in the private sector. He says that's primarily due to the fact that government agencieshave to comply with more stringent security and privacyrequirements. Moreover, Rubel says he believes that governmentagencies are still in the "data sorting" process -- that is,they're trying to figure out what kind of information can go intothe cloud.

Right now, "you can put 3-1-1 informational services in the public cloud, but you want to keep tax and revenue data ina private cloud," he says. Within the next three years, hepredicts, we'll see government agencies figuring out how to besttake advantage of the cloud. The bad and the ugly Public-sector CIOs have no qualms about discussing the ugly side ofgovernment computing. To them, it's a fact of life.

Challengesrelated to parochialism, funding, politics, governance and more getin the way of progress, especially when it comes to cloud computing . One of the biggest obstacles is the long-held belief that any givenagency's needs are special and must be handled in a specific (andusually siloed) way. (For ideas on overcoming this mindset, see"Government CIOs Battle Parochialism," below.) Government CIOs battle parochialism To overcome the parochialism that can be rampant in the halls ofgovernment, several CIOs recommended convening IT councils to boostinteragency collaboration. In Oakland County, Mich., CIO Phil Bertoline brings togetherrepresentatives of different departments to collaborate on ITissues.

"The more we can look ahead, the better we can plan," hesays. With that kind of foresight, he adds, it's easier toaccommodate shifts in technology. IDC analyst Thom Rubel cites a recent collaborative effort withinthe federal government among the Social Security Administration,the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Center for Medicare andMedicaid Services. The agencies are beginning to work together totrack fraud and improper payments, which Rubel says is a $100billion problem at the federal level.

"They're looking at it from abudget standpoint to avoid duplication, but the bigger effort islooking at creating holistic services that create better outcomes." In Ohio, 33 CIOs of state agencies have been working together onvarious IT issues, such as infrastructure, architecture andidentity management. That effort has been under way for a while,but when Stu Davis took over as state CIO, he ratcheted up theschedule so that they now meet every six weeks instead of every sixmonths. "That's been a great help in looking at issues through theprism of an enterprise, rather than departmental, structure," saysDavis. "A state government is not all one entity," says Carlos Ramos, CIOof the California state government. "Some agencies report to theexecutive branch, some agencies are constitutionally mandated, andso they're managed differently." Nor, he says, do agencies likegiving up control, even to colleagues in the public sector.

Just assome citizens mistrust government, "sometimes government doesn'teven trust government," he says. "People focus on more on best practices than utilizing a commonsystem to accommodate them," says Douglas Cotnoir, deputy statecontroller in Maine. "People in government interpret the rules forone group differently than they do for another. It depends on whoyour constituents are." That may be true, but the problem can snowball in unintentionalways. For instance, the individual government agencies of the stateof Virginia might each require accountability, but does that alsomean the state needs 94 separate e-mail systems? Resistance to change is one of the biggest obstacles to cloudadoption by state and local governments, says Andrea Di Maio, ananalyst specializing in public-sector issues at Gartner.

"Itdepends on the maturity of the organization," she says. "Clients ofours who have experience in outsourcing have an easier time moving to the cloud." Another obstacle is the way the reins of power change hands on aregular basis, whether in the governor's office or even on amunicipal city council. "Every new elected official coming in wantsto make an impact," says Steven Fletcher, CIO for the state ofUtah. "But new officials don't think about operations, they thinkabout programs like education and economic development. They're notpaying attention to the most efficient way to provide services,which makes it difficult for the CIO to provide those services." Sometimes regulations gum up the works.

When John Letchford, CIO ofthe state of Massachusetts, decided to try cloud computing bymoving the state's e-mail system to a cloud service provider, hegot more of a challenge than he had bargained for. "Maybe this was na ve, but we thought e-mail was simple," saysLetchford. "But we found that we had to adhere to a variety ofcompliance rules, because you're touching every business functionin some shape or form. It was like boiling the ocean." The RFP formoving the mail, which is still in progress, had to comply with IRSPublication 1075 (Tax Information Security Guidelines for Federal,State and Local Agencies), the Social Security Administration'sSection 1128E (Health Care Fraud and Abuse Data Collection Program)and more than 100 state regulations.

Letchford, who spent 10 years in IT at Procter & Gamble, isfrankly surprised by how polarizing the idea of cloud computing isin the public sphere. "Some people in government see it as athreat, and some see it as a solution, but I haven't met anyone whodoesn't have an opinion.".

We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Juice Filling Machine Manufacturer , Beverage Mixing Machine Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Juice Filling Machine.

Related Articles - Juice Filling Machine Manufacturer, Beverage Mixing Machine Manufacturer,

Email this Article to a Friend! Receive Articles like this one direct to your email box! Subscribe for free today!