5 Questions to Ask

GOVERNMENT IT MODERNIZATION: 5 QUESTIONS TO ASK

Many local governments understand the need to update their IT infrastructures. Siloed and legacy systems make it difficult to meet citizens’ needs and can tax already limited budgets and staff. The path to modernization isn’t always easy — and there are several considerations local government leaders need to make. Asking these five questions will help position IT leaders for success.

WHAT GOALS ARE WE TRYING TO ACHIEVE?

It’s important to think of the end user before embarking on modernization efforts, whether that’s citizens, government employees or private businesses. For instance, do these users prefer to interact with departments face to face or digitally? This will help drive technology decisions.

of citizens 40% prefer to do business with government via a website, which is prompting organizations to expand their online offerings.1

IS OUR DATA CENTER MEETING OUR NEEDS?

Modern data centers — which leverage converged infrastructure, server and storage consolidation, and the cloud — can provide a flexible infrastructure to support traditional functionality, as well as workload automation, virtualization, the Internet of Things (IoT) and other innovations.

92% of counties are undergoing some form of data center consolidation over the next 12 months.2

IS OUR DATA ADEQUATELY PROTECTED ON AND OFF PREMISES?

Organizations need a data protection solution that supports IT modernization by ensuring data is secure and available regardless of where it exists across departments of government.

of IT decision- 62% makers across industries store sensitive customer information in the cloud.3

ARE WE POSITIONED TO HARNESS DATA COMING FROM SMART STREET LIGHTS, TRASH CANS, CAMERAS AND OTHER CITY IoT DEVICES?

Data lakes and high-performance computing capabilities support analytics and other efforts to improve decision-making and optimize workflows.

25% of organizations plan to procure analytics solutions as part of their IoT strategies.4

DO WE HAVE A STRONG GOVERNANCE PROCESS IN PLACE?

Governance processes are critical to help ensure IT purchases align with enterprise strategies and objectives, and are also compatible with existing legacy systems.

of IT 41% transformation projects fail due to a lack of integration with new and existing technologies.5

IT modernization opens the door to new opportunities, allowing local governments to agilely deliver new services; store, analyze and share information more easily; accommodate growth quickly and cost-effectively; and reduce total cost of ownership. By asking these five questions, organizations can be better prepared to build a future-ready infrastructure that supports innovation.

ENDNOTES 1. 2018 CDG survey of more than 2,000 U.S. citizens on the digital government experience. 2. CDG’s 2018 Digital Counties Survey 3. http://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/trust-and-risks-both-growing-in-government-clouds.html 4. 2018 CDG survey of 125 state and local government decision-makers on the IoT. 5. https://www.cio.com.au/article/625522/why-it-projects-still-fail/

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