Cloud adoption no slower in the public sector, research indicates

In both private and public sector, cloud computing can help address legacy IT and information management issues

There is often an assumption that the public sector lags behind the private sector in adopting new technology - a reluctance or inability to change is something the private sector just can't afford.

But with the unprecedented cuts to public sector budgets and growth in public demand for services, the public sector is under as much pressure to use technology to survive as the private sector, and evidence suggests that it is not behind, if it ever was.

Take cloud adoption, for example. Recent analysis by Computing Research shows a slow take up of cloud by the private sector. This accords with Eduserv's findings for local government cloud use, also published in September, with similar proportions of organisations either not using cloud or doing so in very limited ways.

In the Computing Research analysis about 75 per cent of organisations report no or only limited use, but the same number expect that use to increase. My experience is that pretty much all organisations are in practice actually using cloud services - but many IT departments just don't know about this, because it lies in ‘shadow IT' or in delivery partners and outsourcers' services.

Yet at the same time, the Eduserv analysis shows that some parts of the public sector are getting left behind - struggling to keep up with the innovators or to handle the risks associated with new technologies such as cloud. These are often the smaller councils who have the most to gain, but are held back by two primary concerns: data security and legacy systems.

This is partly a perceived rather than a real issue - a reluctance to change because of a fear of cloud computing, rather than a rational analysis of the risks - e.g. worries about the unknown effect on IT security, integrated application portfolios, technical support or accredited processes in the IT department. But there are also real issues to address too.

First of all, IT departments must deal clearly and firmly with legacy applications if these hold back the ability to use cloud or other modern IT methods. Managing the risks in uprooting established but outdated legacy IT, let alone constructing the business case for this, can be hard. But that is why we have CIOs, to bridge the gap between business opportunity and technology potential. CIOs need to be clear with their organisations about where technology blockers lie and how they are best addressed.

The same applies to data and security, where cloud use has real issues. An effective strategy and policy for cloud adoption allows data and security risks to be managed responsibly. This is much more than having a cloud checklist, such as where data is physically held. It needs a mature approach to information governance and master data management - e.g. which data is the most sensitive, how it is being used, retention policy, data linkage, data quality management and so forth. This is something that is still beyond many organisations at present and results in unquantifiable risks in cloud use.

In one sense at least, the opportunity of cloud will therefore drive a more vigorous and effective response to both legacy IT and information governance - both of which should in any case be high priorities for IT departments in both public and private sectors.

Jos Creese is principal analyst, Local Government Executive Briefing Programme, Eduserv (and former CIO Hampshire CC)