Government On-board for Cloud

The government has been fully behind cloud for the Public Sector since the launch of its supplier marketplace G-Cloud or Digital Marketplace. This offers public sector organisations a straight forward way to buy IT products and services from trusted cloud suppliers – you will find us on G-Cloud here. Describing its public sector IT policy as ‘Cloud First’, the government believes cloud for public sector will boost business and deliver savings and efficiencies.

Up to a point it seems to be working. Research by the not for profit Cloud Industry Forum found that 78 per cent of public sector organisations have some form of cloud-based services in use today, having risen from only 38 per cent in 2010

Hard Times

But while Public Sector cloud adoption is on the move – many councils are struggling to keep their heads above water on a number of fronts. SAP Public Sector expert Phil King says;

Essentially, local government organisations need to provide better services at lower operational costs. Which, understandably, is not all that easy to do, especially since there are a lot of concerns to balance. These range from reducing the administrative burden on staff, improving the employee experience, upholding security, and even increasing collaboration between services like health and social care. Public sector organisations have to act quickly, but also intelligently, if they’re going to make the necessary improvements.

Phil King, How An Intelligent, Cloud-Based Future Can Benefit The Public Sector

Learning By Example

That leaves many Public Sector leaders – from IT directors to Finance Controllers trying to find the most cost effective, flexible and efficient technology to fit their organisations.

Phil King suggests following trail-blazers like Surrey County Council, who used technology to deliver a mobile self-service HR solution to its staff. The result? An 83% reduction in the amount of time employees spent on HR processes.

Phil believes that local government can’t afford to delay.

As they tackle on-going cuts and issues like caring for an aging population, local government needs to seek out the opportunity to streamline their processes and modernise their applications. The smartest way of doing this is by developing and building their new data-driven applications in the cloud, in order to achieve a degree of “future-proofing”. The gains to be had from doing so are significant – as are the problems created by failing to act.

Let the Search Begin

The evidence suggests that anyone considering cloud for the Public Sector should begin looking now. The Cloud Industry Forum advises;

…careful pre-procurement engagement that thoroughly examines all prospective Cloud suppliers.

We agree. The Public Sector is awash with stories of projects that have over-run, cost too much or are now simply unsupported by the original vendors. We think you should research the market and check out suppliers using the Digital Marketplace.

We would like to back this up with our promise to you. We stake our reputation on providing some of the best customer service and aftercare in the business. If you choose to work with us, we will not leave you in the lurch. We know how important it is that users know not just what the system can do in principle but how to use it on a daily basis. It seems obvious but it is amazing how many relationships end at the implementations stage with the Go Live, which makes no sense to us.

Stand By Me

InCloud Solutions will support you throughout your implementation journey. Take a look at our support package here.

Alex Hilton, CEO of Cloud Industry Forum  concludes;

“this sector is increasingly seeing the benefits of migrating to the Cloud. Able to raise cost-effectiveness, productivity and employee satisfaction, Cloud services are an excellent choice for any organisation working with the public’s interests at heart.”

InCloud Solutions has both yours and the public’s interests at heart. Check out our Public Sector Solution – built on the SAP mid-market product Business ByDesign – it comes as a suite-in-a-box which cuts down on costs and implementation time but still offers a multitude of opportunities to customize so that it is exactly right for you.

If you would like to know more, it is very easy to get in touch. Make Caroline your first port of call – she is friendly and knowledgeable and can help you straight away – email [email protected] or hop onto any of the chat boxes that appear on the pages of our website.