Technology Record - Issue 22: Autumn 2021

182 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om P ublic sector organisations have been cau- tious with the deployment of leading-edge technology. Once a decision has been made to proceed, these organisations tend to move slower than commercial organisations. Governments increasingly recognise that adop- tion of new innovations, which often sit in the public cloud, will provide efficiencies and a com- petitive advantage. As governments across the world show pos- itive signs of cloud migration, the UK public sector has demonstrated early understanding of the need to fully migrate to cloud. The UK Government’s original cloud-first policy was published in 2013 but has been updated in recent months to produce the One Government Cloud Strategy. As more businesses and public sector depart- ments begin this transition, we are seeing a sig- nificant rise in both interest and investment in the cloud from public sector organisations. But the cloud migrations of such large organisations can be tricky to manage and there are both best practices, and pitfalls, to consider. The need for the cloud is clear. Updating leg- acy IT systems and adopting cloud services is at the top of the digital transformation agenda for organisations across all industries. In fact, cloud services will soon be the largest part of the IT services market in Europe, as enterprises invest in them as part of their Covid-19 recov- ery strategies. Public sector organisations are a part of this movement as they are also operating in compet- itive spaces. For example, there is a call for UK Government IT systems to move entirely into the cloud by 2023. A cloud-first mindset can help tackle the financial woes many organisa- tions have faced in recent years, many of which have been exacerbated during the pandemic. The result will be greater efficiencies achieved across the economy, with private industry no longer hampered by slow-moving government and legislative bodies. Many organisations, however, are still finding it difficult to make the move. Though the benefits are vast, public-sector bodies consideringmigrat- ing to the cloud often face organisational and operating-model challenges, including securing the required resources. In addition, there are often privacy and security concerns – including overcompliance with the US Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. The cloud is complex, and companies are strug- gling with access to the right skills and expertise to properly transition. However, the organisa- tions that are delaying migration are already fall- ing further behind than they realise. The gap is widening with every year of delay, which is why working with a partner can expedite the process and guarantee success. But choosing a partner can prove complicated for organisations as well. Technology decision makers not only have to choose the right cloud service provider, but also need to choose rele- vant offerings from a wide portfolio of options. This abundance of choice creates a challenge for Embracing the cloud The time has come for the public sector to adopt the cloud in earnest to deliver greater efficiency across the economy M I C K MCNE I L : LOG I CA L I S V I EWPO I NT “Updating legacy IT systems and adopting cloud services is at the top of the digital transformation agenda”