London – February 16, 2017 A Freedom of Information request conducted by HyperGrid, the Enterprise Cloud-as-a-Service leader, has revealed that over half of London boroughs are currently planning to replace their IT infrastructure. This figure is indicative of a transformation in the way local government IT is being managed, as local authorities look to more flexible, higher-performing offerings.
Following the FoI request, 30 of the 32 London boroughs provided a response. Of those that replied, 53 percent said they are currently planning an infrastructure refresh project, with a further 20 percent in the process of rolling out a refresh.
In addition, when asked about their biggest challenge in the data centre, 16.5 percent of local authorities cited outdated infrastructure – more than any other challenge listed in the survey.
Doug Rich, VP of EMEA at HyperGrid, said: “The FoI findings provide a clear indicator of a need for change and modernisation in local government IT estates. Legacy systems are no longer capable of coping with the challenges brought about by budget cuts, increased demand for higher-quality services and reorganisation to fit the changing role of local government. The focus on quality is a crucial one: local government can no longer afford to settle for solutions that simply ‘get the job done’. The demands of digital transformation and ever-increasing workloads mean that IT infrastructure needs to be high-performing yet flexible to rapidly changing requirements.”
To help achieve this, Rich believes that local authorities need to give thought to take a consumption-based approach to IT. When asked, 43 percent of boroughs said they would consider a consumption or subscription-based model. Rich added: “It is evident that there is a substantial appetite for changing the way IT is consumed in the data centre as refresh projects get under way. Choosing a consumption-based model enables local authorities to be much more agile in how they update their infrastructure. This can come in the form of cloud-based services, including email, apps or the government’s G-Cloud procurement system.”
Rich concluded: “Local authorities should be aiming to consign the old ways of consuming IT to the past. Casting off traditional vendor lock-ins for a more flexible approach brings greater opportunities for a more cost-effective service. Digital transformation is placing a significant amount of strain on both public and private sector organisations, and local government cannot afford to be left behind.”
The full report can be downloaded here
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