Is your Council IT team prepared for the inevitable shift to cloud?

To enable fit for future citizen service delivery and council operations, Councils are making the inevitable move completely to the cloud.

Cloud computing helps build Local Government IT strategy that is for the future, enhancing Council capabilities and scalabilities.

"With technology changing so rapidly, it was hard for our small team to keep pace. The cloud strategy takes care of all of this for us, and enables access to information anywhere, at any time and from any device. It also empowers Council to be more flexible to rapidly adopt new technology as it becomes available." Ms Holland said in a technologyone article – the shift from on-premise to cloud will equip Council to better mobilise its workforce.

"By moving to the cloud we can replace this with tablets and smart mobile devices, and field staff can access all their information while out in the field. This will really improve productivity, and creates a proactive workforce that can work smarter and provide customers with a better experience."

Cloud not only enables field staff to deliver better, more timely services, but also leverages redesign of services around citizens and their needs.

For Councils especially, putting together a roadmap for cloud implementation is essential. This roadmap helps your IT department prepare as the time is now to make the shift.

Are you considering a shift of core or non-core services to cloud at the next refresh?

Or, are you struggling with latency and want strategies to support cloud where you thought it previously impossible?

Today, we share IBM’s Client Architect Richard Goldgar’s 10 top tips for CIO’s on the journey to cloud:

1. Stop being religious: Don’t get caught up in brand affinity
2. Pay careful attention to total cost of ownership: Understand the true cost of as a service
3. Security should be at the center: Cheaper Cloud solutions are appealing, lawsuits are costly
4. Start small: Try moving your public sites and a few tools first to get the feeling right
5. Find the low-hanging fruit: Keep the first transitions as simple as possible
6. Choose your friends carefully: Always make an informed decision on the product first
7. Educate your business users: They’re your users and your responsible to teach them on use
8. Be sure you understand the “pay by the drink” pricing model and service level agreements
9. Compare oranges to oranges: Benchmark your potential vendors against each other
10. Get champions in the business area: Engage the right leaders and the rest will follow

You can find the full article here.

After finishing University with a degree in Business Marketing, I decided to make a big jump across seas for the first time and move from the east coast of America to Sydney, Australia. I landed my first job in a sales position in the event industry and soon thereafter moved into a marketing assistant role – following I had the pleasure of interviewing with Akolade which got me to where I am today. 

Akolade is a fun, innovative company that brings together people from different walks of life to implement change. As the Marketing Manager, I have the pleasure of wearing many hats which motivates me to succeed, reach people in an array of avenues, grow our events to their full potential, and raise our story. As for me, I am a kind dedicated woman who loves to work hard, exercise, cook, be social and have some fun.