Gartner Exclusive : Govt and its five roles within Cloud Computing

Andrea Di Mato, author of the report, said government CIOs and CTOs should “carefully assess what kind of processes and applications require all attributes of Cloud Computing and deploy plausible deployment model options,” establish the value they would give users, and “evolve their sourcing approaches to integrate external cloud-based services as part of their own offerings”.

 

The five roles for government organisations identified by Gartner are: User, Provider, Broker, Storefront, and Regulator & Supervisor.

 

Count to five 

The “obvious” role of User is one Gartner said organisations should “play at its best”, though they should first decide if Cloud services are required in the first place. “In certain situations, different, more-traditional services can better fit the purpose where not all of those five characteristics are required,” says Di Mato. “Therefore, despite vendor hype and whole-of-government encouragement to adopt cloud-based services, an individual assessment is required to ensure that cloud-based services are needed.”

 

Gartner cites the increased levels of flexibility offered as a User of Cloud services as a key opportunity, but conversely highlights organisations could find themselves forgetting more traditional “but potentially more appropriate sourcing approaches” and the prospect of vendor lock-in as specific risks. The report argues that despite the high levels of vendor hype and encouragement to adopt Cloud services, “an individual assessment is required to ensure that Cloud-based services are needed” at all.

 

On the second potential role as a Provider of Cloud Computing services, the report warns government organisations – specifically large departments –should be aware of the implications of “evolving toward a fully fledged Cloud Computing model”.

 

In most cases, according to Di Mato, a Cloud-based approach is seen from within internal providers as a natural evolution of the move towards data centre consolidation and virtualisation program. Certainly the implementation of consolidation formed a key part of John Suffolk’s Government ICT strategy, which was published under the previous Labour administration by the Cabinet Office. Turning to the Cloud would seem like one possible solution for administrators to take, and certainly the report argues it seems “a sensible path”.

 

Di Mato calls for organisations to answer questions on whether the provision of Cloud-based IT services is “in line with the mission and strategic objectives of the organisation” and whether the body can “provide services with better levels and costs than market players”?

 

Becoming the role of a Broker, according to the report, means government organisations become points of contact for users “who do not need to worry about how the broker sources their requests”. Forming a much briefer element of the report, Gartner nonetheless points out a government Broker would alleviate concerns about compliance requirements and “relief from dealing directly with vendors” with fairly inflexible terms and conditions and “difficult to appreciate”.

 

However, while the role of Broker offers governments the chance to strike a balance between internal and external resources, not to mention guidance over flexibility and cost, the report argues it would be both full of complexity.

 

There's an app for that 

One of the most recognisable roles governments can play in dealing with Cloud Computing is as a Storefront, something the UK’s proposed G-Cloud initiative would feature through the Government Apps Store (G-AS).  Di Mato’s report argues that while governments can become both Broker and Storefront, it would be recommended to make the two roles distinct “to avoid any actual or perceived conflict of interest.”

 

The report points towards similar initiatives across the Atlantic, such as the US Government’s Apps.gov (which launched in 2009) and now offers a range of Cloud services including Software as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service. While the role of Storefront enables several opportunities for government organisations, including the ability to provide guidance and up-to-date market information and devolve specific Cloud sourcing decisions to agencies, there are risks associated with the role – not least the need to keep up to date with market developments. Di Mato also argues Storefront roles aren’t in a position to predict the levels of demand from agencies, meaning it cannot negotiate more compelling deals with Cloud suppliers.

 

The fifth and final role governments can play is as Regulator and Supervisor in a bid to minimise the “risk” of using Cloud services, together with “the necessary supervisory function to make sure that those that are regulated (users and vendors) comply”. The report points out two potential angles such roles can be played, either through issuing recommendations or “constraining” the procurement process, or by engaging vendors in the initial stages of a Cloud strategy. In the case of the second angle, Di Mato nods towards the UK Government’s involvement of Intellect in the development of its Cloud strategy.

 

“This role can be played only by government organizations that are responsible for policymaking and can be reinforced by organizations that are tasked with centralized procurement,” argues the report, which concludes by pointing out the role would provide not only greater confidence to departments and agencies that security and portability concerns surrounding the Cloud will be resolved, but also puts pressure on the market to ensure these concerns are actually met.

 

It does however argue the role may cause an “imbalance” between conflicting policy priorities, such as public procurement versus trade and industry.

 

Gartner’s report offers a clear insight into the potential roles governments will have to choose to take as they turn to the Cloud to help drive both cost and productivity efficiencies. As Di Mato himself says in the opening of the report, “Government IT executives involved in whole-of-government cloud computing strategies should carefully examine the roles described in this research and determine which ones would be most appropriate for their and other agencies.”