Strategies for Government Cloud Adoption
State agencies adopted cloud solutions at a much faster pace during the pandemic. Now it’s time to put the strategies in place to ensure they adapt to the cloud to make the most impact for residents.
By John White, Managing Principal for Deloitte Consulting LLP
Throughout the pandemic, government organizations truly began making a fundamental shift to the cloud. The adaptability, scalability and accessibility of the cloud made this shift a natural choice. In Ohio and beyond, we’ve witnessed new and rapid cloud adoption. However, not every agency is on the same page or “era” of cloud adoption.
Deloitte categorizes cloud adoption eras like this:
The problem-solving era, which focused on solving the technical and security problems that stood in the way of cloud adoption.
The competing-priorities era, where there was a battle between traditional tech infrastructure and existing government needs to begin adopting the cloud.
The maximizing-the-mission era, when governments begins the wide-scale adoption of the cloud, which we saw to a large degree during the pandemic.
But here’s the thing: whatever stage an organization is in, it’s critical that it plans and adapts to the cloud. Implementing the technology and hoping the benefits fall into place is not a strategy that will work for the cloud.
Because whether a government organization was forced to jump to the cloud due to the pandemic, or was able to move beyond those competing priorities for more scaled adoption, as my Deloitte colleagues say in their recent report, “government organizations are now faced with the decision of how best to make use of cloud to accomplish their mission.”
That takes strategy and adaptation. Rather than simply moving existing servers and applications to the cloud, for instance, state governments and agencies should consider rearchitecting systems, and reimagining how those applications are used by government workers or resident users.
While taking big steps such as these, rolling them out in pilots – across single counties, agencies, or a limited number of users, for instance – provides an opportunity to test and adapt, while proving benefits of the cloud. In Ohio, as part of our work on the InnovateOhio Platform, which modernizes and scales the capabilities state agencies have to better serve residents, we’ve rolled out cloud-based digital identity solutions across multiple agencies. Among other benefits, this allows state workers to more easily and securely log into the apps and services they use every day.
Additionally, it takes a concerted and meaningful effort to ensure all stakeholders, leaders, workers, and end-users, are considered in how the cloud and applications are implemented and used.
At Deloitte, we know this is a lot to consider, and we’ve built up the expertise and knowledge of the cloud to identify all the factors that cloud can impact your organization as it relates to your mission – and how you can unlock its full potential for government workers and your residents. To learn more about Deloitte’s take on the cloud, I’d encourage you to visit our Government Cloud Services site here, or reach out to me any time at jbwhite@deloitte.com.
John White is the office managing principal for Deloitte Consulting LLP in Columbus, leading the public sector practice and the Columbus consulting office.