Page 28 - FCW, April 2017

Commentary|LARRY ALLEN
LARRY ALLEN is president of Allen Federal Business Partners.
Cloud telecom can help agencies do more with less
In the government’s battle to streamline operations and cut costs, cloud-based unified communications offer a quick win
President Donald Trump is serious about wanting to reorganize the government. His recently issued executive order directed all agen- cies to conduct a top-to-bottom review and submit findings to the Office of Management and Bud-
get by mid-September on ways to improve organization and spending.
More recently, Trump followed up on the order by announcing that his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, will conduct the White House’s own review of how to reduce the size of government and make it more efficient.
There will likely be dozens of rec- ommendations from agencies and the White House on improving gov- ernment efficiency, and some will be more easily implemented than others. If the president wants to focus on low-hanging fruit, though, one place he can look for immedi- ate savings is the cloud.
Agencies have been reluctant to move operations, especially telecommunications, to the cloud. However, that could change as the White House mandates reductions in spending without necessarily altering agencies’ missions.
Simply put, cloud-based unified telecom services reduce costs and meet other mandates for agile IT, security and mobile functionality. Several departments are already looking for ways to upgrade their existing telecom infrastructure. In other words, the timing couldn’t be better for agencies to consider meeting presidential mandates by
adopting cloud-based unified com- munications as a service.
Federal leaders should keep UCaaS in mind when they conduct management reviews. Here’s why: • Cloud-based solutions sub- stantially reduce capital expen- ditures, a significant factor when agency budgets face sharp reduc-
Security concerns, although important, are no longer a valid stumbling block when moving telecom services to the cloud.
tions. Overhead and maintenance costs are lower for such solutions, further adding to the potential sav- ings. Whether an agency opts for
a private, commercial or hybrid approach, telecom cloud services offer total solutions priced on a per-user basis. A good supplier
will even offer you the ability to scale up or down as the headcount changes, meaning that you pay only for what your agency actually uses. • The latest offerings boast advanced security features. Security is often the No. 1 federal concern when considering UCaaS. Unlike data storage solutions, however, telecom cloud offerings retain almost no government data.
Easily deleted voice-mail messages and phone numbers are typically the only information in a telecom cloud.
Still, agencies have a right to expect secure solutions. Companies committed to the federal market should have security authentication under the Federal Risk and Autho- rization Management Program, an important step in addressing such concerns. Most contractors will even take further steps if the scope of a specific project is sufficient to support additional security levels.
The bottom line is that security concerns, although important, are no longer a valid stumbling block when moving telecom services to the cloud.
• UCaaS can cover a wide range of communication needs. Gov- ernment telecom is no longer just about phone calls. It’s about con- ferencing, collaboration and related needs. Any agency considering a switch to UCaaS should ensure that the companies they’re consider-
ing can offer full functionality. Call control, voice mail and reliable tele- conferencing are just three areas
to consider in addition to basic dial tone service.
UCaaS doesn’t simply offer sig- nificant budget savings. It provides federal agencies with the ability to obtain a full range of state-of-the- art functions from reliable business partners. Agencies looking for ways to streamline their organizations and cut costs should take a close look at cloud-based telecom. n
12 April 2017 FCW.COM