In some areas of the public sector, the weak economy has created a culture of delivering services and concepts without thorough analysis of the underlying business cases. As a result, these agencies have been unable to implement the new processes and Cloud-based solutions that drive cost savings and efficiency, and the G-Cloud programme has faltered.
Without doubt, the G-Cloud should exist and get the investment needed. After the hype has died away, Cloud computing will cut the cost of operating and delivering ICT services by 30-40%. The G-Cloud programmeme also provides the leadership and direction needed to deliver the support, standards, guidance, and timelines required for major technology initiatives.
The last significant ICT "wave" was accompanied by a cacophony of hype describing how the Internet and all it encompassed would change the world. Two or three years into the hype, the bubble burst.
Yet the prophecy was correct. Business and our personal lives have changed forever because of what that technology enabled.
The Cloud wave will be similar. It will not change the way business and people transact, but it will change the value we derive from these transactions and the speed at which we can complete them.
Single back office
It is widely expressed that wherever possible, common functional solutions should be aggregated and converged across public sector bodies, creating a single back-office suite. Financials, HR, Payroll, CRM, and many other common processes could be drawn together and delivered from a "Back-Office G-Cloud".
The transition period must be organic, not a bubble-bursting force, because building momentum and delivering savings across the public sector sooner rather than later is essential. The transition could last five to ten years, so establishing this as the timeline for full G-Cloud adoption will help to inform the entire transformation and frame its objectives.
But it isn’t just about G-Cloud, is it? Parallel to G-Cloud is the momentum for shared ICT services. At the same time,virtualisation also has a momentum of its own. When is a shared ICT service a G-Cloud service? When is a virtual solution a Cloud solution? If these questions, or hybrids of the same, confuse some and give cause for a lack of momentum, then clarifying these matters will help.
In the first instance, transitioning to the Cloud and shared ICT, or just cutting operating costs will require three tactics: virtualisation, consolidation, and convergence. If we are moving to G-Cloud or Cloud computing in general, this is Phase 1.
This phase transforms ICT infrastructure (as Socitm and many more have said is essential), creating the foundations for modern ICT solutions and establishing a new baseline on which future systems—Cloud systems—can be implemented.
Beyond ‘phase 1’
Phase 1 can be relatively short, typically taking 6 to 9 months and delivering a return of investment within 12 to 18 months. It builds out policy and automation for the future Cloud infrastructure and may include some low-risk and low-level application services. The important issue is not to take unnecessary risks.
With phase 1 complete, shared ICT services are now possible—whilst delivering economies of scale. Sharing may have been feasible before but without full virtualisation, convergence, and automation, some experiences were financially disappointing.
Phase 2 builds on this foundation. Once policy, security, data assurance, and automation are all in place, phase 2 sets a timetable and process for application migration. Step by step and without disruption to daily business, enterprise and mission critical applications are migrated, reducing costs whilst mitigating risk.
Phase 3 completes the readiness for the Cloud, enabling tiered service levels and charge backs, fast and automated service provisioning, and increased levels of automation that reduce operational errors. This final phase sets up the ICT infrastructure to accommodate new services and applications with ease and speed. It establishes the platform for lower-cost ICT implementations, lower-cost maintenance and support, and the ability to seamlessly scale services up and back as demand dictates.
Important step forward
G-Cloud is an important step forward. It embraces a wave of computing change like no other. The Internet revolution changed applications, transactions, and the way we communicate with each other. The Cloud revolution will make the whole operation easier to manage and secure, accelerate the reaction to business demands, and cost a lot less.
If we allow momentum to gather around this transition to more efficient public sector ICT services, we avoid the fallout of a "hype-bubble" bursting.
Rory Gray is Local Government & Education Director, EMEA, at EMC Computer Systems.
