Public sector IT buyers believe the proposed G-Cloud initiative should be ‘opt-in’ rather than mandatory, according to a new report from K2 Advisory.
The report “Cloud Computing – A Step-Change for IT Services” based its findings on the current attitude towards public sector Cloud Computing services from a survey conducted by PublicTechnology.net in February. A vast majority of respondents (68%) think G-Cloud should be offered as an opt-in method of sourcing IT for government, while only 32% think G-Cloud should be a mandatory way to source IT for government.
Dr Katy Ring, director of K2 Advisory, and author of the report, said: “the problem with providing G-Cloud as an opt-in infrastructure is the sheer scale of the project which if executed on a 'Field of Dreams - build it and they will come' scenario, will most probably fail. This is because public sector adoption rates of standardised solutions (such as public sector Flex for desktop services set up in 2007, which, three years later, has five agencies signed up) tend to be painfully slow.”
The report bleakly concludes that without the mandatory use of the G-Cloud by government organisations, the apparent 10-year payback for the initiative “could take decades”.
Further conclusions in the K2 Advisory report reveal that a majority of respondents (53%) currently do not believe G-Cloud will deliver the amount of cost savings outlined by the government, though nearly half (47%) think the initiative will be successful in saving money “for the provision of IT for the public sector”.
The report argued there was a general belief G-Cloud will achieve a degree of cost-savings, but that the scale of those savings is not believed by public sector IT buyers. Dr Katy Ring, director of K2 Advisory, and author of the report, said, “Many public sector IT buyers think G-Cloud should be offered as an opt-in sourcing method, not a mandatory one, and are sceptical on both the savings and the carbon reduction claims.”
Ring also told PublicTechnology.net that the deployment of the Public Service Network (PSN) – which she described as “the aspect of Digital Britain that seems to be most likely to proceed after an election” - was essential if government services were to move online in a “coherent, consistent and cost-effective way.”
Besides cost-savings, K2 Advisory also revealed the need for the government to be clearer on how G-Cloud will reduce its carbon footprint, and help meet its carbon-reduction targets. Over half (55%) of respondents believed the initiative will have “a minimal impact” in helping the government meet its commitment. Ring concluded that “so far it is difficult to identify the expected impact on government carbon emissions”.
The G-Cloud has come under increased pressure in recent months, with the Society of IT Management (Socitm) airing misgivings over some aspects. In January, Socitm published a statement in which it said, “Although public sector organisations are urged to ensure all future IT purchases are compatible with the G-Cloud, we do not believe it is likely to become a mainstream service offering, delivering savings within the 3 years stated in the Digital Britain report.”
Government CIO, John Suffolk later defended the initiative and said the move was inevitable, and argued “Computing should be a commodity for as many in the public sector as possible. It's about efficiency, effectiveness, speed and driving the cost out of IT.”
The full report - “Cloud Computing – A Step-Change for IT Services” - is available from the K2 Advisory website.
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