How IT and Cloud Computing can help the Federal Government Agencies?

With today’s organizational procedures demanding quick and agile functionality, government organizations are challenged with leveraging legacy infrastructure with limited budgets. Cloud computing provides an easy way to cost-effectively bring innovation to the existing infrastructure while allowing government agencies to realign strategies according to changing business needs. While the private sector has quickly embraced the cloud technology, government organizations were apprehensive of the security aspects. However, cloud solutions are more secure than on-premise security solutions. This is why government organizations are aggressively embracing this technology in recent times. Federal agencies are no exception.

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Challenges in the path to the cloud

While cloud has been an enticing option, there are certain barriers that negatively inflfuenced the migration plans of several federal organizations initially. The main concern is high federal security requirements. As hackers constantly try to intrude into IT networks of federal agencies, organization-wide and system-wide security updates is a key requirement. Secondly, the work culture in the government sector is quite different to the private sector. While the cloud technology requires agile and quick changes to the technology, the federal agencies are slow to adapt to these changes. Another challenge is the lack of technical expertise required to handle the innovative technologies. Federal organizations have to train the staff to efficiently handle new technologies. Complying with data regulations is another important barrier that delayed the cloud migration process. Limited IT budgets were another concern for certain organizations. The cloud with its public, private and hybrid models efficiently resolves all these challenges.

Benefits of cloud computing
to the public sector at the Federal level

In the recent years, Federal agencies have moved several government programs to the cloud that made a huge difference to the operational efficacies. Here are some of the benefits.

Transparency in Citizen Services

By moving to the cloud, Federal agencies are able to centralize their citizen services. For instance, the energy consumption of citizens is available online. Citizens can now access this data from any device and any time to keep a tab on their energy consumption levels.. A notable example is the Open Government Initiative started by the White House wherein Federal agencies are required to achieve key milestones in collaboration, transparency and participation. Another example is the ability to check the status of their service requests. The cloud enables Federal agencies to be transparent in citizen services.

Integrated IT networks

Another important benefit of cloud computing networks is the integration of IT services that delivers simplified IT management. By integrating different services, Federal agencies can reduce the server and datacenter footprint that in turn reduces the total cost of ownership. While virtualization technology optimizes the virtual desktop and application delivery, new technology such as hyperconverged infrastructure simplifies datacenter management. With low maintenance and management required, IT staff can concentrate on delivering more innovation to citizens.

Security and Data Compliance

One of the myths about cloud computing is the lack of security as data is stored on a 3rd party infrastructure. However, the cloud computing technology offers more security than on-premise solutions as the cloud vendor delivers world-class security solutions to safeguard the client data. Moreover, Federal agencies can take advantage of the hybrid cloud networks to host sensitive data on a private cloud and generic citizen data on a public cloud. At the same time, cloud enables Federal agencies to comply with government regulations as well.

The State of cloud in the public sector

The transition of Federal agencies to the cloud is increasing year by year. One of the reasons for this transition is the decrease in the entry price of cloud computing in the public sector. According to Tariff Consultings (TCL) report, the average cost of an instance of entry level cloud computing is $0.24 per hour. This is actually 66% lower than what it was in the last two years. According to Computer Weekly article, more than half of Tier1 services in the public sector would be delivered by virtual personal assistance by 2018. Looking at these trends, cloud computing for the public sector seems bright.


For the public sector, security, reliable service and compliance and costs are the key requirements. As they don’t enjoy the flexibility of changing networking strategies quickly, it is important for them to choose a cloud service provider who can deliver reliable cloud services that are always on. While the load balancing should be on dot, the price should be affordable.


CenterServ is one the very few leading cloud service provider which provides customized cloud solutions that are tailor-made to suit the organizational needs. With thousands of nodes located in 200 countries, your data is always available online 24/7. CenterServ is not affiliated or obliged to any product, service or solution which means your organization is entitled for the best available alternative for any specific purpose or need. Most importantly, CenterServ solutions are cost-effective.