Three communities test the benefits, privacy and security of cloud computing. Klamath County, Ore. has moved its email system offsite and now is moving the person assigned to manage it to another, higher-value area. On the eastern part of the state, the chief executive for Gilliam, Ore., says its email has vastly improve since moving to the cloud, and after reviewing the experiences of other governments, the the Borough of West Chester, Pa. moved its email to the Cloud, too.
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Like other technology department heads in local government, Randy Paul is expected to meet the ever-growing demand for services in an environment of ever-diminishing resources. So a few years ago, he began looking to the "cloud" to provide efficiencies never previously available to his colleagues in Klamath County, Ore.
Today, with the county's email service entirely off-site, Paul has been able to move a full staff position that would otherwise work on maintaining the email system to other, higher-value projects. And, he is contemplating soon moving other county technology to the cloud, like its mental health information system, with the anticipation of additional benefits.
"We're all in," Paul says about the county's move to off-site management. "The county is always asking us to do more for less. We have to find ways to provide services for less money, and outsourcing is one of the answers."
Paul is not alone in looking for technology answers in the cloud — roughly defined as off-site hosts that share infrastructure with multiple tenants. Perhaps the most common example is third-party email hosting service. Rather than hosting and maintaining an email server on location, cities and counties can outsource that function to a cloud email service.
According to David Rogers, manager of Microsoft Corporation's productivity team for state and local government, interest in cloud computing has grown as budgets have been squeezed. In fact, tight resources often provide the impetus for moving to third-party service. "Across the board, at all levels of government, we're seeing increased interest," he says. "They all have the same problems. A demand for more services at a time when they have lost staff. They are looking for new ways to do it."
Security and privacy are top issues
In evaluating their options, Rogers says, government technology leaders often want assurances on two key issues: security and privacy. In terms of security, providers of cloud services offer around-the-clock and state-of-the-art monitoring against intrusions, and redundant sites that protect against natural disasters. Other than the largest entities, such services are beyond the means of a sole user.
Paul says that the assurance of business continuity for his email system is one of the cloud's most attractive features. "The next earthquake, we could lose connection," he says, "but with cloud services I could just grab a laptop and go for wireless in the next city over, and we would have our cloud-based services up and running."
In terms of privacy, Rogers says that governments always need to evaluate central concerns, such as who has access to data, where the data is stored and what measures are in place to prevent unwanted intrusion. Paul believes that privacy of the government's data is a major concern, but those who believe that they will avoid problems if the server remains on-site are relying on a false hope because intruders don't recognize such boundaries. Instead, he bases his evaluation of which data should be stored in the cloud on the type of information.
For smaller communities, cloud services offer many technological capabilities that would not be available because of the cost of the software for a sole license, the cost of ongoing updates and the cost of supporting the infrastructure, says Kevin Mims, Microsoft's director of local government sales. "Regardless of whether it's a small town," he says, "all communities want to have the same basic services." Mims says that there has been a surge of interest from smaller government operations for cloud services, as concerns over privacy and security are dispelled. "The momentum has been incredible," he says.
In addition, the statutory requirements regarding Freedom of Information Act requests can be daunting for smaller communities whose minimal infrastructure for email doesn't offer good archiving or provide access and search capabilities. Those types of requests are easily handled on basic arrangements with cloud providers. While some communities are initially concerned about the cost of moving to a third-party, the services are often very cost-effective, because personnel and hardware costs are reduced over time, with a relatively short payback period.
That has been the experience of Judge Pat Shaw, chief executive for Gilliam, Ore., a small community in the eastern portion of the state. Since the county moved six months ago to the cloud to handle its email, the email service has vastly improved, she says. "The previous email provider would always go down," she says. "The last time, we were without email for three weeks. It was totally unacceptable."
Since moving to a cloud provider, the government has had excellent email service and will soon take advantage of additional software that is included at no cost in the email contract, including intranet, web conferencing and collaborative editing on projects.
As far as privacy and security, she says, the new service doesn't raise any concerns. "They guarantee 99 percent availability," she says. "That's much better than what we had. Confidence is not a problem."
A technology staff of one
In the Borough of West Chester, Pa., William Mann has found that moving his email service to the cloud has removed a significant burden. As the borough's sole technology person, he says, the move to the cloud leaves him with one less server to worry about. "Time is crucial for me," he says. "I don't have to worry about maintenance of servers. I know we have backup, we can meet open records requirements and provide information to the people."
In deciding whether to move to the cloud, he says, he spent three months reviewing case studies of other communities and spoke to his regular software provider. His cost analysis showed that after a three-year period, West Chester would save money on its operations. For example, he was able to redeploy the server that he was formerly using for email to another use in the police department, saving several thousands of dollars. He also is reviewing a number of software upgrades that are available at minimal additional cost.
Although the email server is no longer on location, he says that he has not lost control over management of the system. As the administrator, he has a console that allows him to add users and help with lost passwords. "I just don't have to worry about the servers," he says.
Paul says that the government must undertake a complete review of its business requirements and set the right expectations for the conversion before deciding to move to the cloud. "You shouldn't make the conversion to save money," he says. "But you probably shouldn't do it if you won't save money. It really has to be a good fit."
Robert Barkin is a Bethesda, Md.-based freelance writer.
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For more information on West Chester, Pa.: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/-/West-Chester-Pennsylvania/West-Chester-PA-Takes-Email-To-The-Cloud-Cuts-Costs-While-Boosting-Efficiency/4000011009
For more information on Klamath, Ore.: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/-/Klamath-County-Oregon/Klamath-County-Oregon-Streamlines-IT-Operations-by-Migrating-to-Hosted-Messaging/4000005954
