Former Advisor Urges UK Government To Embrace Cloud Technology

Scott Fletcher, a former UK government advisor, is not too satisfied with the IT strategy of the government and feels that it is a waste of time and energy. Fletcher wants the officials to move towards the cloud as he thinks that it is a lot more convenient and effective method of storing information.

Having worked as an advisor to Chancellor George Osborne, Fletcher has a deeper understanding of the government functions and how technology is being used by the people who matter the most. Fletcher is extremely unhappy with the way government departments are handling information technology and feels that apart from being wastage of revenue, the current strategy of internal IT systems is a massive hindrance in serving the British people. He feels that cloud technology is a brilliant alternative which can make the job of government officials a lot easier.

Fletcher claims that the British government can save about 80 per cent of the operating costs by converting to cloud technology. The former government advisor thinks that the usage of internal IT systems is an outdated technique and the world is moving forward now.

One of the major reasons behind Fletcher’s opinion of converting to cloud technology is that the government departments can gain access to some of the finest equipment of the world without having to pay a massive capital to purchase it, which straight away means that the government can save millions of pounds.

Taking into account the economic problems the UK government has been facing in recent years, Fletcher is surprised that they have not already turned to cloud technology.

On the other side of the picture, the UK government launched its Cloud-First earlier this year in May and the G-Cloud project last year, encouraging the government departments as well as public bodies to prefer cloud options over others.

Fletcher agrees that it is an extremely important move but feels that the initiatives are taking too much time and they should have been completed by now. The former government advisor thinks that the government is afraid to take brave decisions as there are no policy or technology concerns involved with cloud technology.

By outsourcing to the cloud, the government can easily get rid of the personnel costs, which is one of the major expenditures of most government departments. On top of that, due to the better technology in place in the cloud, the workers would be able to do the job more efficiently.

Fletcher urged the government to get rid of its fears and adopt the cloud technology. He feels that some of the larger government departments like defense and NHS can benefit enormously from this move, immediately saving a lot of money and enhancing the overall efficiency of work.

In order to improve the uptake of cloud computing services in the public sector, the government has been working hard ever since it launched its G-Cloud project at the start of 2012. At the end of October, 2013, the third version was released and it was shown that the cloud technology can help organizations save a huge amount of money.