The Government IT Officers Council (Gitoc) plans to complete a cloud computing strategy for government within this year.
Chairman Julius Segole says the strategy is to enable the implementation of cloud computing in government entities since this is what's standing in the way of immediate implementation.
“The basics to easily migrate to cloud computing are in place in so far as SITA [State IT Agency] has been able to connect government departments to a single NGN [next-generation network] and has facilities to host shared government platforms.”
However, Segole adds that there is no policy or strategy on how government can migrate to private cloud computing, or which outline opportunities for cloud computing, required infrastructure and governance, and an implementation plan.
“However, plans are afoot in SITA and other government entities to develop a blueprint,” says Segole.
Avoid anachronism
Cordys Software SA CEO Mike Rolfe says the migration to cloud computing will save billions of rands of taxpayers' money and improve service delivery.
Industry analysts predict that up to 87% of all computing will be inside the cloud by 2013. If local government doesn't embrace the cloud, it risks being even more anachronistic than it already is, says Rolfe.
“The point about cloud computing is that a single technology platform can easily and cost-effectively deliver multiple instances of particular types of software services, each of which is tailored very precisely to the specific needs of individual organisations.”
Rolfe explains that for government this means each municipality can benefit from using a single municipal services platform that provides exactly the same type of functionality to each municipality, while still allowing the individual circumstances of particular municipalities to be taken into account.
Dump individualism
He adds that the municipalities only need Internet connectivity to access the platform and cloud computing will then remove the need for each municipality to buy their own hardware and the software needed to run HR, billing, procurement, asset management, and all the other activities relevant to these structures.
“It makes no sense for each local government to be tackling its operations in a highly-individualistic way. Why have, for instance, lights and water dealt with in 390 different ways just because that's how many local government entities there are?”
Near future
Rolfe believes such a system can be up and running within a matter of months - because government already has most of the necessary facilities in place.
“SITA has both the dataset and the ability to house applications such as those that would be specific to running a municipality.”
He adds that SA's government online portal is a virtual private network (VPN). In essence, Rolfe says, VPNs are private clouds and all the portal would have to do is extend its network capabilities to service local governments.
The portal already has the authorisation and other security protocols in place to assure residents that using cloud services would be a safe, secure way to transact with them, according to Rolfe.
Not so fast
However, Segole says migration will not be quick, because - in order to have some traction - government will need broader consensus on which applications go to the cloud, who funds the cloud and the governance of the cloud, including security.
“There is also the need to fast-track the implementation of VPNs to government departments and ensure superior network performance. The cost of using a cloud computing service will have to be minimised to ensure value for money.”
Segole also says the investment required to build cloud computing platforms is one of the biggest challenges blocking implementation.
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