27th September 2011

Finally, public sector cloud computing is back on the radar in the UK, after what seems like an eternity. The problem is, it’s not all been that positive, with most debates resurfacing in the wake of Marc Benioff’s statement that the UK was “lagging behind the US” in terms of government cloud uptake. So, the question has to be asked - is he right? Is G-Cloud still in concept mode? And are the government wasting too much time debating how to use cloud, when they could be out testing its potential instead? We decided to talk to some people in the know, to find out.

The topic of cloud computing seems to arrive in fits and starts when it comes to G-Cloud and the UK public sector.

It was only back in August we were wondering where the next big announcement on government IT was going to come from. But then the last couple of weeks happened, and everything sparked back into life again.

First, Salesforce’s enigmatic CEO Marc Benioff came to town – for Cloudforce UK – and opened up his keynote session by declaring that the UK was a long way behind the US in terms of implementing cloud into government, before stating the G-Cloud had so far proved “a big virtual machine that had not been executed well”.

Then, the Ministry of Justice’s Martin Bellamy reacted to the resulting speculation by declaring, "anyone who thought the G-Cloud had gone a bit quiet, or that it's died - well, no it's not, it's alive and kicking. The vision remains intact, and there is increasing promise of delivery."

And that wasn't all, as the Liberal Democrats held their annual party conference and, well, essentially echoed the original statements by Benioff…by asserting their “fear” of cloud computing within an IT strategy document.

And so, it seems, confusion reigns supreme over the subject; and still the world waits for another big announcement and something substantial to get its teeth into in terms of G-Cloud. But is that day ever going to come? Or is the public sector in actual fact delving into cloud computing with or without the guidance of G-Cloud, and the oh so elusive Government App Store?

Two people in the know are Matt Davies and Richard Helliar, who both hold key roles with cloud computing provider (for both public and private sector), Cordys. The company is working on a number of projects in the UK alongside strategic partners such as Capgemini and CSC, including in the public sector where they are currently developing business applications for use by various healthcare departments ‘in the cloud’.

And it’s this kind of project that’s currently seeing most traction in the public sector. This month has already seen examples of departments and councils across the UK working individually with private sector companies to develop cloud computing applications, from email upwards, and according to the Cordys pair, this looks set to continue:

“The public sector debate isn’t really about the government as a whole [any more]. The point is, each department is probably weighing this change based on an individual merit and an individual business case,” said Rich Helliar, on the subject.

“One of the key things is now, we’re more interested in understanding what the business and economic merits are with cloud computing, as opposed to the hype we were seeing a few years ago. And the private sector may come in for some criticism for constantly peddling ‘cloud’ products, but we’re also delivering some very good case studies that will inevitably lead to government departments making decisions on what is going to work for them.”

So if the G-Cloud is more about work in progress, why has there been so much reaction to Benioff’s comments earlier in the month?

“This has all just snowballed in the last few weeks. Yes, part of it was triggered by Marc Benioff’s comments, but the other part is that the coalition government has probably woken up recently and realised ‘hang on, we’ve been in power for over a year now and we’ve got to save some money,’” added Matt Davies.

“Yet the initial ideas of cuts aren’t necessarily the answer, because the IMF is saying this could be detrimental to economic growth, so we’ve got to think of some other ways of saving. If you can do that by cutting the £10bn of IT spend from the government budget through cloud, then it probably starts to make a whole lot of sense. It just takes time to realise this.”

One of the factors that backed Benioff’s comments has been the lack of a public sector App Store, something that the US government has steamed ahead with. And while Cabinet officials have gone on record several times to highlight the importance of data centre consolidation as a method of cutting costs, it’s the app store that could provide the most streamlined innovation for the sector. But will it ever materialise?

“I think there will eventually be an application store,” said Davies. “Just not in the ‘Apple’ sense we’re all hoping for. More a central procurement point, if you like. For public services to go to in a private cloud and say ‘I’d like 10 of these applications for this particular reason…’

“Of course, who owns the app store and how it will be populated are perhaps the most interesting questions, and probably what’s been holding it back. If the application framework is compatible maybe the Government will host it, as this will allow any application provider to publish their apps in a less bias arena. If not, it gets complicated.”

“There’s obvious benefits in the first option though – the governance that can be implemented, and the fact that services don’t have to individually procure and roll out IT changes whenever they need them, and instead concentrate on what they’re doing and not have to lead their own IT changes all the time.”

But so far, no App Store exists. And nor does it seem it will do, any time soon. So Benioff is perfectly within his right to make the comments he made. And this probably provides a good enough reason for why Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, was so keen to meet with the cloud pioneer.

“What needs be taken into account [in relation to an App Store] is that there are also headaches for the service provider,” added Rich Helliar.

“We’re talking about sudden changes in the way we deliver our applications. This is also one of the reasons why the government has held off funding the G-Cloud fully.

“I think the whole industry is waiting for some big announcement from the government to say ‘we’re now in cloud’, but to go back to what we said about trialling, it’s probably as much about the private sector being given time to show off their case studies and then the public sector taking to them on their merits”.

“What is actually more likely than this huge centrally-funded G-Cloud, and what we’re actually seeing in many local councils and public departments is the development of their own applications that can very easily be made cloud-ready. This is probably the most likely way forwards. And when they start sharing them with the broader public sector in a private cloud – that’s when G-Cloud and the App Store can officially be confirmed as ‘alive’.”

So start getting used to calling the G-Cloud App Store a ‘Central Procurement Point’, then. And get used to the fact that G-Cloud will just be an on-going process, rather than one big movement. The question now is, how quiet will news on the topic now go again before the debate inevitably reignites itself?

Matt Davies and Richard Helliar are Director of Product Marketing and UK Managing Director for Global Business Operations and Cloud Computing Provider, Cordys. For more on the company and its work in both private and public sector cloud provision, visit: www.cordys.com

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Tags: public sector cloud | infrastructure as a service | applications