Watershed year for public sector cloud adoption

A new survey has highlighted a dramatic rise in the number of organisations planning to migrate core IT infrastructure to the cloud.

Examining the state of cloud adoption in the UK, Agilisys’ Harnessing the Cloud report suggests that 2019 will be a watershed year for the public sector as 80 per cent of organisations plan to migrate core IT infrastructure to the cloud in the next 18 months.

Surveying more than 200 govtech leaders responsible for cloud services and technology transformation, the report says that only 28 per cent of organisations are currently using cloud for core IT infrastructure, meaning that a significant task still lies ahead.

Agilisys suggests that in order to meet these cloud ambitions, organisations are already gearing up with 81 per cent having invested in additional training to develop specific cloud capabilities and skills amongst their workforce. Nevertheless, capacity and capability shortfalls remain, with 63 per cent regarding third-party assistance as essential during cloud implementation and optimisation.

Sean Grimes, managing director of Cloud & IT at Agilisys, said: “The report shows that cloud adoption rates across the public sector have risen dramatically since 2016, indicating that any previous fears and uncertainties have been dispelled. Organisations now understand adoption is critical to driving service transformation and they’re moving faster than ever to capitalise on new cloud capabilities.
 
“Our research also shows that organisations believe cloud is key to unlocking innovation across the public sector, with many respondents seeing it an essential platform to leverage emerging technologies such as IoT, data & analytics, AI and robotics, which will revolutionise services for the future. And while cost reduction is an increasingly important driver, it’s the cloud’s ability to improve capabilities that’s now the deciding factor, which is really encouraging.
 
“Of course, the right skills and experience are crucial to making cloud transformation a success. With demand accelerating, we’ll likely see more organisations leaning on private sector partnerships to support their cloud ambitions, or to transfer essential skills. Indeed, growing awareness that there are proven paths for success and third-party experts ready to help may explain today’s confidence in cloud.”