Local Government and the Cloud: What’s Stopping Agencies From Making the Leap?
Across the United States, government agencies are increasingly moving to the cloud to benefit from cost savings, free themselves from maintaining expensive on-premises hardware, and gain the ability to scale infrastructure needs up and down. At the state level, the majority of health and human services departments have now moved their operations to the cloud. However, local governments lag far behind their state peers, with two-thirds still approaching digital services in an ad hoc manner.
Why the disconnect?
For local government agencies, the barriers to cloud adoption are far-ranging. Some of the major barriers include:
Siloed Data. In a global study by Workday, 61% of local government IT leaders said that their data is either “somewhat” or “completely” siloed. Only 2% said their organization’s data was “fully accessible.”
Security fears. 44% of local government CIOs ranked cybersecurity as the top roadblock for IT decision-makers, according to a poll by StateTech Magazine.
Lack of in-house talent. 97% of IT decision-makers in state and local governments said they face at least one challenge related to the skills gap, including halted IT modernization projects.
Other obstacles to cloud adoption include resistance or concerns about cloud’s “pay-as-you-go” model, heavy investments into legacy systems (the “sunk cost” fallacy), and confusion around government priorities.
The Risks of Staying On-Prem
While moving to the cloud can feel daunting, remaining on-premises carries its own risks, and is probably not a viable strategy over the longer term. Consider that:
87% of state and local IT leaders say legacy applications may be preventing their agency from delivering modern services.
From 2022 to 2023, malware attacks against state and local governments increased by 148%, while ransomware incidents increased 51%.
74% of state CIOs consider security the most important benefit of cloud computing.
In our new e-book, Local Health Departments and the Cloud, we explain why health departments are leading local government’s move to the cloud (hint: the pandemic was a motivator)—and why the CDC’s National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) is the ideal first step for agencies looking to make the move.
To learn more, download the e-book below.
