Cloud services will bring about a major rethink in the logic of whole-of-government ICT strategy and role of government CIO

Dr Steve Hodgkinson, research director for Ovum’s Asia Pacific IT research and advisory services

AUSTRALIA: Governments across all jurisdictions continue to struggle with the implementation of whole-of-government ICT strategies. The goal is to cut costs and promote system integration, but these goals are seldom fully achieved in practice. Disappointment with the ability to realize and sustain the promised benefits of whole-of-government ICT strategies is becoming a common theme.

The cloud will increasingly empower agencies to access ICT cost savings and ICT-enabled innovation without the risks and imposts of mandated whole-of-government procurement and shared services arrangements. Cloud services enable agencies to make individual choices and still access the economies of scale and innovation of large mature shared services arrangements.

The new agency-empowering dynamics of cloud computing will have a big impact on the whole-of-government CIO role. Up until now a government CIO function has been able to defend its operating budget to the treasurer because it was seen as essential to the achievement of economies of scale driven cost savings.

If economies of scale can better be achieved by agencies individually choosing cloud services what economic value is added by the Office of the CIO? Smart CIOs will accelerate cloud adoption with visionary leadership and a practical problem-solving approach to facilitating the procurement and deployment of cloud services by agencies.