Page 22 - Federal Computer Week, January/February 2019

High-Impact Government Engagement
PaaS: Transforming
how agencies achieve mission
With trusted platform-as-a-service solutions, agencies can focus on transforming the customer experience
Saurabh Verma
Managing Director - Public Sector, Acumen Solutions
IN 15 YEARS of helping agencies leverage cloud technologies to resolve complex business challenges, we have
observed our clients reaching a critical point of transformation through their adoption of platform as a service (PaaS). The government can deliver secure, scalable, mission-impacting applications in weeks
or months, instead of years. The ultimate “winner” becomes the American people who fund and consume government services.
PaaS liberates the government to focus on innovation
While each agency has a unique mission, their core functions are like any other business — they provide services, manage assets, give answers, and strive to keep
their workforce happy and productive. PaaS solutions offer a pre-built infrastructure that expedites project delivery, leaving more
time to focus on innovation. Agencies can implement PaaS, use
the drag-and-drop interface to customize without developers and reuse PaaS
features built by other organizations. In addition, government agencies have access to the U.S. Digital Services Playbook, which provides web design standards. Leveraging these tools, in 2014, we replaced a correspondence management system
in months that originally took years to develop. Since that time, we have reused the solution at multiple agencies and reduced deployment time to mere weeks.
The government is reaching a tipping point in innovation. Since PaaS provides the core infrastructure and reusable features, our client conversations have evolved from what a button should look like to how we can build a system that provides the best customer experience.
Cristina Miller
Director - Public Sector, Acumen Solutions
Agencies no longer have to reinvent the security wheel
No agency wants its name and “breach”
in a headline; cybersecurity is the start and end of every IT conversation. The process of attaining the security approvals is rigorous, as it should be; however,
some might find the requirements too cumbersome to justify their innovative idea.
The General Services Administration has “FedRAMPed” multiple PaaS solutions. In addition, agencies can reuse security controls that have been approved for other applications. As more apps
are developed, the turnaround time for security updates shortens, saving agencies significant time and money.
davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff
S-22 SPONSORED CONTENT
PaaS
PaaS sparks collaboration and federal job satisfaction while achieving mission
Government agencies that use PaaS solutions have organically come
together to share best practices. We have