Socitm Blog

The launch of IT Trends 2009 last week has triggered some debate about the prospects for cloud computing. Given the release, today, of the Government ICT Strategy, I think it is timely to clarify Socitm's position.

First of all, Socitm is committed to using its members' knowledge and experience to work with the Cabinet Office to define the key components of its G-cloud proposals. We expect these proposals to impact significantly on locally delivered public services. Our support is founded upon a belief, held in common with John Suffolk, Government CIO, and our colleagues in the Cabinet Office, Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) and elsewhere, that current models of ICT services delivery are unsustainable, given the unprecedented pressures on public finances and ever increasing demands for local public services.

Our view is that cloud computing promises a potentially radically different approach to delivering ICT services, including:

• software services and utility computing delivered at significantly lower costs than traditional modes of delivery;
• easier, faster and cheaper procurement of these services; and
• services established once and rolled out repeatedly to meet the needs of the hundreds of local public services organisations and their delivery partner organisations across the country.

In turn, this will assist local public services to concentrate on their core activities of delivering good quality services to citizens and businesses, against a backdrop of reliable, resilient, flexible, secure, efficient and lower cost ICT provision.

However, there are undoubtedly challenges to address on this journey, and from the years of experience revealed in our IT Trends series, Socitm does not believe that cloud services offer a panacea. Socitm is working with the Cabinet Office to define the distinctive requirements that local public services would place on cloud computing-based services, and how to identify and deal with the challenges which will emerge from this such as security, information assurance and systems integration.

The work is being led by the Local CIO Council, in conjunction with the Local Government Association, CLG and one of the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships. We are actively engaged in two workshops in early February, led by Martin Bellamy (Cabinet Office) and Dilip Parmar (CLG) respectively, and involving a range of Socitm members, to define the broad requirements and to identify potential 'quick wins'. Here, we expect to define categories of services that are best suited to delivery by 'public' cloud computing and those that will require the additional safeguards of the G-cloud, supported by the proposed Public Sector Network.

We think that Socitm's recent IT Trends publication was right to point out the risks inherent in using the cloud, including uncertainty of service standards, ownership and security of information and ability to control and manage demand. By doing so, we hope to accelerate adoption by dealing with these issues transparently and openly; our work with the Cabinet Office and CLG is aimed to help do this. Already services are being defined that are expected to be capable of delivery in the short to medium term.

We are anticipating that Socitm members will play a positive and an active part in developing the G-cloud, underpinned by the Public Sector Network, both of which form important planks of the Government ICT Strategy and have strong local government input.

Jos Creese, vice president of Socitm and Chair of the Local CIO Council tells me: "The G-cloud promises much. We are determined to work with our members, the various arms of government and our suppliers to ensure that the specification and delivery of the G-cloud meets the needs of local public services and that the practical issues arising from this are properly addressed."