Government Cloud Implementation Moving Slower than Expected
Companies, both big and small, are packing up their storehouses of data and heading toward that big, data-friendly cloud in the sky. Physical media remains viable for a medley of diverse documentation, but the bigger, better online alternative is allowing for greater computing to be done at a lower price point.
The US government is one of the most prominent participants in the race to the cloud, and its 2011 cloud-first initiative has IT providers scrambling to acquire the necessary certification to become eligible for the billions of federal dollars waiting to jump into the first open pocket. However, the government might not have as big a piece of its computing pie up in the sky as you’d first expect.
Cost savings, budget reductions, and greater security are the goals, but the agencies involved with the restructure admit that they lack the staff to enter the cloud in a timely manner. Just 10 percent of agencies have transferred more than half of their IT portfolio to the cloud, and that won’t change until additional staff members with the necessary skills are brought on board.
The administration likely thought it would be further along in the process almost four years later, but the agencies that have adopted the cloud are now moving more and more of their operations online. By leveraging software as a service and platform as a service capacities that quickly meet the IT needs of a broader section of the endeavor, the government is looking to step out of the beginning portion of this operation and move into something greater.
Could there be more to the government's sluggish cloud implementation than meets the eye? This style of computing is still considered new, so the fear of cyberattacks ravaging volumes of critical data that’s all being kept in one spot may still exist. However, the ever-evolving safety measures being developed should alleviate many of the most common concerns.
Whether it’s a lack of staff, a fear of the unknown, or an inadequate budget, the drawbacks hindering the move from physical to digital storage don’t outweigh the benefits. Smarter resource management, greater business dexterity, and a lower cost of operations are just a few of the remunerations waiting for those who intelligently make use of the cloud.
The government remains adamant that it will stick to its cloud-first mindset as long as it is under the Obama administration. However, if we don’t see core changes being made to the federal staff and the cloud adoption process, expect these sky-high aspirations to remain grounded.
