Page 26 - FCW, Sept/Oct 2018

IT MODERNIZATION ENABLING DATA TO ADVANCE CITIZEN SERVICES
THE GOAL IS TO EMPOWER AGENCY-AND DEPARTMENT- LEVEL CIOS TO IDENTIFY EXISTING DATA, CATALOG IT PROPERLY, AND
STORE IT ON SHARABLE PLATFORMS.
ACCELERATING IT MODERNIZATION
WITH DATA AND CLOUD
Even with legacy systems that retain data in silos, Homme says that harnessing the power of cloud computing can enable agencies to liberate data and better deliver on their mission.
“There’s an exciting opportunity for government to leapfrog and accelerate their IT initiatives using data as a centerpiece of modernization with cloud,” she said.
For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs was able to develop – in just a matter of weeks – an access-to-care application that allowed veterans
to schedule appointments and see wait times at various VA hospitals from any device.
In addition to agility and speed of deployment, cloud solutions support the goal of interoperability in the way data is stored and accessed. Adding open application programming interfaces allows one application to call on another.
Given the diverse needs of government agencies, hybrid cloud systems are becoming the norm for modernization efforts. The mix of on-premises and cloud services that work together allow agencies
to take advantage of the benefits of cloud while maintaining links to existing systems.
“Hybrid cloud helps you dip your toe in the cloud
and get a sense of what it’s like, even if you’re not ready to fully jump in,” Rubin said. “That’s been really beneficial, either from a disaster recovery or simple workload migration perspective.”
Legacy disaster recovery (DR) systems can be extraordinarily expensive, but cloud-powered options can handle the mountains of data in a more cost-effective way. That’s true of data that needs to be used all the time and requires optimal access,
as well as data that is not used frequently but still needs to be retained.
“To be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, we want to ensure that agencies are using the right storage accordingly,” Rubin said. “Cloud has the elasticity to really support the customer.”
With data at the center of modernization efforts, government agencies can more rapidly achieve the vision outlined by the PMA and the CoE initiatives of a robust and consistent data management strategy.
“As a company focused on the intelligent cloud and the intelligent edge, Microsoft can help you create more value wherever your data resides,” Homme said. “Whether it’s on premises, in the cloud, or at the edge, we can help you access that data, manage it well, and use it across agencies to deliver modern citizen services.”
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