Cloud computing could be more revolutionary than the invention
of the PC in
public sector IT, the
Society of IT Managers has said.
A report by the Society of IT Managers (Socitm) shows the
potential benefits of the cloud for public services, including
flexibility and lower costs, especially as the costs of buying and
maintaining server infrastructure and datacentres can be shifted
outside a company.
Cloud computing uses the web to provide IT facilities and
services that are hosted elsewhere on the internet.
The report warns there are security and continuity risks with
agile cloud computing, that public sector IT managers may find
difficult to live with. But it adds that a fortress approach is
untenable.
The briefing urges local authority IT managers, if they have not
already done so, to prepare strategies now to embrace cloud
computing and associated developments like Software as a Service
(SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and
service-oriented architecture (SOA).
Author Chris Head said: "Cloud computing offers low cost and
very easily reconfigurable services and its use by the private
sector will create expectations of responsiveness among those using
public services."
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