The current appeal of cloud in the public sector

The current appeal
of cloud in the
public sector

Reading the headlines, it would be easy for people to assume that every organisation has moved to the cloud. Certainly the figures suggest so - worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 23.1% in 2021 to total $332.3 billion, up from $270 billion in 2020, according to Gartner.

In the IT world, it’s a pretty tough trend to miss. So what’s driving it? The pandemic, naturally, has had an accelerant effect, with the need for flexible, scalable infrastructure that can be deployed rapidly at an all-time high. But it’s not the only contributing factor. According to one analyst, “Even absent the pandemic there would still be a loss of appetite for data centres.”

Emerging technologies, hungry for compute power, are equally responsible for driving demand for public cloud, as enterprises seek infrastructure that allows them to deploy the latest tools as they digitally transform.

And there’s more. Applications delivering better, more intuitive experiences across all industries and sectors are raising the bar for what good looks like, putting pressure on businesses to meet expectations, and creating another storage challenge.
These apps and services need flexible, scalable and secure infrastructures to support them. For most businesses, that means some form of public cloud, even if it’s just the front-end of the app that sits in the cloud.

Let’s not also forget that every app is unique, bringing its own set of requirements, and degree of compatibility with the various public cloud environments available. This creates complexity, as IDC points out: “With applications everywhere, an organisation can quickly become stuck on what is needed for the journey.”

On top of this for public sector organisations is the notion of ‘Cloud First’, which is adding to the clamour for cloud. The UK Government’s adherence to this policy is outlined in its ‘Cloud guide for the public sector’, which states: “When procuring new or existing services, public sector organisations should consider and fully evaluate potential cloud solutions first before considering any other option. The policy was reassessed in 2019 and remains a flagship technology policy.”

‘Cloud First’ does not necessarily mean ‘Public Cloud First’ of course, yet when a key part of government strategy is cost optimisation, both across central and local government, the apparent cost effectiveness of public cloud in particular is a major driving force in adoption. Being able to switch from a capital expenditure to operational expenditure financial model means it presents a highly compelling business case in the context of ongoing budgetary restrictions and cycles.

Another aspect to consider is cloud’s appeal to developer and organisational needs – with traditional IT departments increasingly complex and expensive, and often bogged down with drawn out procurement processes and legacy complications, having the ability to acquire compute resource with a credit card has significant appeal.
For developers tasked with creating the applications powering next-generation experiences (and therefore delivering on organisational objectives), public cloud offers a quick route to acquiring the environments they need, albeit outside of IT governance and procurement processes.

Amongst all this is the Chief Information Officer – tasked with keeping the lights on while innovating and transforming at the same time, and probably having to do it all (more) with limited (or less) resources.

It is a tall order, particularly when one considers these tech leaders are often having to do it all with legacy IT infrastructure, applications, services, processes and skill sets.

In such a context, it is little wonder that public cloud services have significant appeal; its theoretical access to services with limited upfront costs, more flexible resources and apparently limited skills requirement means it presents an attractive option to businesses.

As IDC notes: “The adoption of cloud services should enable organisations to shift IT from maintenance of legacy IT to new digital transformation initiatives, which can lead to new business revenue and competitiveness.” For public sector organisations, whether local or central government, that can mean securing much needed income as a consequence of IT investment. It can also mean faster-to-deploy, easier-to-use services for citizens and employees which deliver a greater experience without putting strain on limited resources.