Government Cloud Computing in the UK and Canada
The UK government has launched the G-Cloud framework as a procurement initiative to save the UK government £120 million by 2014. Developed in only four weeks, the CloudStore offers more than 1,700 cloud-based products and services from more than 250 vendors. UK government agencies will find Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Specialist services, such as configuration, management and monitoring.*
At the 2011 IBM Cloud Symposium we attended as an IBM Business Partner, http://www.pcis.com/web/vvblog.nsf/dx/IBM-Cloud-Computing-for-a-Smarter-Planet-in-Vancouver) speakers announced the IBM offering for cloud computing for the Canadian government. Governments are sensitive about privacy so they need cloud solutions within their own country. IBM SmartCloud Social Collaboration for Government enables government agencies to leverage cloud infrastructure standards, virtual resources, and automated processes in a secure environment. For more information about IBM government cloud computing, visit http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/cloud/government/.
High Adoption for Cloud Computing with Fortune 500 Companies
In the private sector, 80% of Fortune 500 companies are using IBM Cloud Computing capabilities. And as a result, most enterprises have reduced IT operating budgets by an average of 36% over the past year in 2011 according to Forrester.
However, according to an interview with Duncan Stewart, co-author of Deloitte’s 2012 technology, media and telecommunications™ predictions in the February 21, 2011 issue of Business in Vancouver**, the high growth in Cloud have turned out to “be more than hype, less than hyper”. That’s because large companies and organizations are already invested heavily in servers and IT departments, such as financial institutions and government has been the slowest to embrace the Cloud. However, there is partial migration in the form of “outsourcing” when there are needs for new servers and software.
* Source: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/customer-experience/gcloud-cloudstore-launches-with-1700-services-for-uk-government-014579.php
** Source: http://www.BIV.com
Liza Lee February 22nd, 2012 08:38:34 AM