Across the U.S., more and more public-sector agencies are discovering the benefits of the cloud as a critical infrastructure tool. This technology enables organizations to leverage IT resources economically by migrating applications, business systems, and data to the cloud while still maintaining privacy, security, and administrative control.

The Virtual Data Center

In the past, developing, testing, and launching new applications and systems typically involved complex specifications and up-front investment (often significant) to identify server needs, order equipment, oversee installation, and address ongoing data center maintenance and security. Today, powerful IT resources are available on-demand through the cloud, enabling organizations to launch new resources easily and turn them off when no longer needed.

Servers, storage, and applications can be provisioned and available for use within 15 minutes or less. The cloud approach minimizes the cost of supporting architecture, infrastructure, and software licensing; and allows for sampling and testing solutions without an expensive or lengthy commitment. This often proves ideal for publicly accessible applications that aren’t required on an ongoing basis, such as emergency or incident-related websites.

By reducing risk and upfront costs, the cloud also encourages innovation. The technology allows organizations to try new applications, apply fixes, move from smaller servers to larger servers as needed, and delete older resources. For example, in a utility pricing model, payment is required on an hourly (or less) basis for servers and by the GB/month for storage. The transition from a CapEx to an OpEx model using the on-demand utility model for IT infrastructure and applications opens up opportunities for innovation, increased productivity, and collaboration. Organizations can build, test, and reconfigure IT resources as needed without the limitations of traditional "hard" infrastructure within an on-premise data center. Optimizing a full range of IT technologies virtually allows for rapid prototyping and testing, spurs the development of new applications and systems, and enhances agility in quickly deploying technology solutions.

WSCA-NASPO - A Streamlined Procurement Vehicle

To get started, public agencies at the state and local level can begin by executing a participating agreement under the Western States Contracting Alliance - National Association of State Procurement Officers(WSCA-NASPO) cloud hosting contract. This procurement vehicle is available to state agencies, municipalities, universities, tribes, territories, and regional authorities throughout the U.S. Currently, our cloud hosting services team at Dewberry, working in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), is supporting several states, local governments, and universities..

Many of our clients are seeing dramatic reductions in IT costs through this transition. For more information, visit www.aboutwsca.org.