118 VIEWPOINT A cloud journey to efficiency ARUNKUMAR ASHWATHANARA: INFOSYS Modernising infrastructure and adopting automation and AI can enhance operations and safeguard data for public sector organisations looking to improve their productivity, security and service delivery “Overcoming cybersecurity challenges requires strategic planning, best practices, adaptability, innovation and planned budget allocations” Various levels of public sector organisations like federal, quasi, state and local are increasingly dependent on cloud platforms for effectively managing their day-today operations. Embarking on a cloud journey is critical for such entities as the cloud has the potential to impact service delivery, security and data in numerous ways, particularly regarding efficiency and costs. The major challenges that the public sector is facing include inefficiency in infrastructure, data management and cybersecurity as well as skill shortages and regulatory compliance. Budget constraints and fiscal policies also delay the downstream benefits of digital transformation, thereby exacerbating the plight of government services. Information risk management, engagement and training, asset management, architecture and configuration, vulnerability management, identity and access management, data security, incident management and monitoring are burning issues that need to be addressed. Many organisations still operate on legacy systems, which lack integration with new technologies, so upgrading these systems has compatibility as the prime concern. Early adoption and interoperability issues can be avoided if timely upgrades are planned. By modernising infrastructure and data – and adding a highly skilled cybersecurity team – public sector bodies will be able to perform more effectively. And by adding strict compliance regulations to safeguard highly sensitive information, they can secure their data better and improve operations towards gaining public trust. Strategic planning on budget allocations, streamlining processes and bringing in automation can improve service delivery to a great extent. Adopting automated workflow processes can lead to increased productivity and tackle problems related to staff shortages and workload challenges. Adding an IT service management tool can also bring in a lot of integration capabilities and automate the process to reduce manual efforts. Furthermore, adopting a software-as-a-service (SaaS) or integration platform as a service (iPaaS) can reduce workload and help to run operations more smoothly. An omnichannel digital experience enables public sector organisations to instantly connect and engage with customers across digital messaging channels like live chat, voice and SMS. Microsoft provides public switched telephone network (PSTN) connectivity and artificial intelligence-powered copilots to enable self-serviceability. Offloading capabilities should be the first step that public sector bodies take in a phased
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