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Survey shows public sector majority use cloud

06/08/15

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Google App Engine leads among services, while the main use is in back-up and recovery

A large majority of public sector organisations are now using cloud services as part of their digital transformations, according to a new study.

A survey for Hybrid Cloud, published by a partnership of EMC, VMware and VCE, revealed that 85% of more than 100 respondents from the public sector were using some form of cloud, whether or not validated by the IT department.

Google App Engine emerged as the most widely preferred choice, with 43% saying their department used the service, while 26% went for local UK services and 14% for Amazon Web Services.

Uses varied, with 36% citing back-up and recovery, 35% internal applications and 29% external applications.

Savings provided the main driver for choosing the services, with 34% of respondents saying it was a cheaper solution, 23% citing ease of use and 20% describing it as the right solution for the application they were using.

They also pointed to perceived risks in public cloud services, with 42% expressing concerns about security, 30% internal data loss and 26% governance issues.

Positive findings

“The findings from this research are very positive for the public sector. Line of businesses are using public cloud services to drive efficiencies across the organisation – both for employees to access data inside the organisation, and to speed the delivery of citizen-focused services, for example passport applications, that fluctuate at times throughout the year,” said Andy Tait, head of public sector strategy at VMware.

“In order for the UK public sector to drive efficiencies in a secure, flexible, agile and compliant manner, business users need to look at embracing a hybrid cloud strategy that can provide portability of workloads, one set of management tools and deliver services such as disaster recovery and built in security – without the cost of having to investing in unnecessary resources and tools.”

Pictured: Cumulus clouds in fair weather by Michael Jastremski - legacy.openphoto.net. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

 

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