18 April 2024
Minimising your suppliers can be an intimidating change, but facing it head-on doesn’t just contribute to a greener future – it also ensures your business’ ability to survive within it.
Many organisations have found themselves ‘unconsciously hybrid’ over recent years, in a state of flux between legacy systems, on-premises infrastructure and incomplete ‘Cloud-First’ adoption.
While the pandemic has accelerated the need for scalable, flexible, and agile infrastructure to underpin digital transformation, 63% of public sector organisations still do not have a dedicated cloud strategy. Having been plunged into survival mode, the sector now needs a clear roadmap towards a restored hybrid solution.
To deliver transformational services, the public sector must embrace a ‘consciously hybrid’ approach. This involves setting aside legacy thinking and unleashing the power of emerging technologies. A hybrid model enables organisations to collaborate more seamlessly across data sources, be it public cloud, on premises, or at the edge – all whilst minimising e-waste and overspending.
This time around, the right support is at hand for the public sector to become consciously hybrid. Managed workplace services providers offer the expertise and vision to effectively lead from the front during this transitionary time.
Sticking plasters and stretched budgets: barriers to cloud adoption
The last two years have proven that digital transformation is far from a ‘nice-to-have’: it is an essential tool for the design and delivery of key public services. But for government organisations chasing the digital revolution train, the disruption of Covid-19 caused it to turn around and start rolling towards them. Caught unprepared and off-guard, the sector has been forced to confront the immense need for investment in scalable, reliable digital infrastructure.
As national and local governments look to rebuild their digital transformation journeys post-Covid, the sticking plaster solutions of recent months are starting to make way for more solid foundations. However, legacy systems and traditional paper-based environments are proving significant barriers to the adoption of more agile, cloud-centric architecture. More than 70% of public sector infrastructure and 73% of data remains on premises, leaving key information stranded on old systems and in static locations.
The lasting impact of budget cuts and austerity measures – coupled with subsequent concerns around data security in the public cloud - has fuelled the sector’s reliance on legacy infrastructure. While a reactive survival mindset may have seen the sector through the worst months of the pandemic, organisations now risk getting caught in data and legacy challenges. This may lead to them losing a key opportunity to place workloads in the right size environment and with the right access.
The limitations of the government’s ‘Cloud-First’ policy has also put some public sector organisations on the back foot when it comes to effective cloud adoption. Introduced in 2013 to level the IT supplier playing field, a lack of communication, training or expertise in cloud innovation saw success rates fluctuate across local governments, with many unable to properly see the initiative through.
As a result, the public sector finds itself in a state of flux between legacy systems, on-premises infrastructure, and newer, more agile operating models for cloud environments. Organisations are ‘unconsciously hybrid’, as a lack of coherence between their disparate systems is creating tension and hindering business growth.
