CloudforGovWhitepaperGVW0-3020-USEN-00_DM

IBM Sales and Distribution
White paper
Government
Cloud Computing for the
Government

2 Cloud Computing for the Government
Introduction
As local and national governments work to infuse
intelligence into their transportation, energy, water and
telecommunications systems to stimulate economies and
benefit citizens, these efforts beg the question: can the
operation of government itself become smarter?
Smarter government will do more than simply regulate the
outputs of our economic and societal systems. It will itself
be a smoothly functioning system. It will interconnect
dynamically with citizens, communities and businesses in
real time to spark growth, innovation and progress, and:
• Promote economic growth by streamlining cumbersome
processes and simplifying reporting requirements, especially
burdensome to small firms.
• Deliver citizen-centered operations and services by integrating
service delivery, establishing offices that support multiple
services and placing the high-demand transactions
on the Internet.
As governments manage the twin issues of budget constraints
and higher service requirements from citizens because of the
current economic environment, they face the increased
challenges of complexity and cost of managing their IT assets.
In this dynamic new age, deployment of information
technology with cloud technology will be the key to success
over the next decade. Once considered mainly an IT delivery
method, cloud has now become a key enabler for business
model innovation.
This paper demonstrates how leading government
organizations and agencies can use cloud to innovate,
address financial challenges and manage higher demand
for services by addressing two fundamental questions related
to cloud technology:
• How can governments explore cloud computing technology
that has the functionality needed to improve efficiency, reduce
cost or enable new capabilities?
• What applications, services and technologies should
governments consider developing and deploying “in the
cloud” to meet their missions and goals?

IBM Sales and Distribution 3
Government challenges
Governments today are challenged to apply innovation to
meet these public sector mandates (Figure 1):
• Improve citizen and business services by connecting people
to programs based on individual needs, achieving sustainable
outcomes and reducing operational costs and maximizing
taxpayer value
• Manage resources effectively, using business intelligence
and planning to improve insight and elevate performance with
visibility and control.
• Ensure a sustainable environment by deploying
environmentally responsible operations, from energy
efficiency and conservation to transportation management
and the pursuit of renewable resources.
• Strengthen national security and public safety by making
it possible for defense and law enforcement organizations to
achieve situational awareness, increased speed of command
and combat superiority.
Figure 1: Government mandates.
Key drivers for governments
Based on Government 2020 white paper published by
IBM institute of Business Value, IBM identifies the following
six key drivers for governments.
Accelerating Globalization
Countries and societies are becoming
more economically interdependent across
social, political and cultural boundaries, as
illustrated by current economic conditions.
Evolving Societal Relationships
Today, governments are expected to deliver
results and value through secure, private
services that are available anywhere at
any time.
Expanding Impact of Technology
The adoption of the Internet is remaking the
landscapes of business, healthcare and
government.
Changing Demographics
Median ages are rising in the developed
countries of Italy, Germany and Japan, but
dropping in developing ones such as India.
Rising Environmental Concerns
Societies and governments are becoming
more attuned to what the earth can provide
and what it can tolerate.
Growing Threats to Social Stability and Order
From terrorism to armed conflict to pandemics
to natural disasters, the character of threats is
changing.
Improve
citizen and
business
services
Ensure a
sustainable
environment
Manage
resources
effectively
Strengthen
national security
and public safety
Government

Budgets are the biggest concern for public sector CEOs.
The skills of their employees are next, which is also tied to
an aging workforce, especially in the US and parts of Europe.
Governments are in danger of losing large numbers of staff
(and accumulated knowledge) as many in the public sector
workforce reach retirement.
Technology continues to grow in importance as a need
because it is viewed as a key enabler for change and has
been since IBM began the study (it has moved from 6th to
2nd place in the overall CEO sample). While technology
makes more things possible and is a critical contributor to the
transformation efforts, the level of technology complexity is
greater in the public sector. Public sector CEOs also anticipate
complexity to continue to be a technological stumbling block
five years from now. Figure 3 shows the complexity gap to be
in the order of 35 percent.
In 2010, as part of the IBM Global CEO Study, IBM
interviewed 329 public sector leaders, and found that these
mandates have created concerns and needs in the areas of
budgets, employee skills and technology for public sector
CEOs. Figure 2 shows their major concerns and how they
match up to the private sector.
8%
9%
8%
10%
24%
15%
26%
18%
37%
24%
64%
26%
17%
29%
38%
30%
38%
41%
35%
42%
56%
4%Budgets
People skills
Technology
Macro-economic factors
Socio-economic factors
Market factors
Regulatory concerns
Globalization
Environmental issues
Geopolitical factors
Other
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Public Sector
Private Sector
Figure 2: The top concerns of public sector CEOs
Figure 3: Public sector complexity gap.
Currently experiencing
high/very high level of complexity
Expect high/very high level of
complexity over the next 5 years
Feel prepared for expected
complexity
Public Sector
65%
85%
50%
Complexity gap
Experienced and expected level of complexity v preparedness
35%

This complexity can be explained by the fact that, in the last
two decades, IT has evolved from basic Internet connectivity
to web and online commerce.
When asked which factors were having the most impact on
their organizations (Figure 4), the public sector CEOs listed
the information explosion, a talent shortage, shorter time
cycles and more private participation in government.
To meet these challenges and address their needs, governments
need a solution that can help them transform themselves
into organizations that promote economic growth and
deliver citizen-centered operations and services. They need
help streamlining cumbersome processes and simplifying
reporting requirements, while integrating service delivery,
establishing offices that support multiple services and placing
the high-demand transactions on the Internet.
Cloud computing can help.
38%
52%
38%
62%
58%
59%
62%
60%
32%
57%
61%
54%
62%
57%
73%
Information explosion
Talent shortages
Shorter time cycles
Sustainability
Industry transformation
Shifts between mature and
rapidly developing markets
Shift between global and
local markets
Scarcity of natural
resources 29%
27%
36%
Public Sector
Private Sector
Figure 4: Factors having the greatest impact on the public sector.
Shift between public and
private boundaries
“This is the biggest squeeze in public spending
in my lifetime.Therefore there has never
been a better opportunity for substantial
change.A great opportunity for cooperation
between the private and public sector.”
— Municipal Government CEO, UK

Why cloud for government?
Cloud technology can help governments and departments
partner and innovate to address their challenges. As Figure 5
demonstrates, it is the natural evolution from the Internet
and web.
Government users do not need knowledge of, expertise in or
control over the technology infrastructure that supports them.
Whether you fully understand all the technical details involved
or not, the crucial issue is what cloud computing can do for
governments. Some of the most noticeable benefits that cloud
computing can bring to governments are:
• Increased efficiency in the use of IT resources. Cloud
computing promotes the significant reuse of existing
computing, storage and data resources by simplifying access
to them and making it easier for multiple jurisdictions to
share resources. When you reuse assets, it is possible to reduce
costs. This would alleviate the public sector budget concerns.
• Faster deployment of new capabilities. A common repository
combined with scheduling, automation and optimized testing
can contribute to rapid deployment of new capabilities.
The result is shorter cycle times.
• Improved consistency and quality of new capabilities.
A common image repository — one where common and
reusable images are tested and hardened — ensures
consistent, higher-quality results. Such a repository can
help manage complexity.
• Faster integration with partners, vendors, customers
and suppliers. A cloud-based test environment requires
standardization and consistency. This approach makes
it possible for external partners (such as outsourced
development firms) to plan test phases more efficiently
and confidently, because the environment is consistent and
well known.
Figure 5: The evolution of technology to cloud
Infrastructure Technologies
Alternate Client
Devices
Web Platforms and
Applications
Business Models
Data Center
Pressures
Application
Technologies
Industrialization of IT
Networking
Data-Intensive
Applications
Cloud
Web
Internet
Elastic
Services
Connectivity
Information
and E-Commerce
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Cloud computing provides dynamically scalable resources
as a service, using:
• Virtualization of infrastructure and services
• Automated provisioning of services
• Elastic scaling (increase or decrease) of computing
power — on demand
• Increased availability and connectivity with users

Figure 6 illustrates the beneficial aspects of cloud.
Cloud computing is particularly attractive to government
organizations that want to speed service delivery and increase
IT efficiencies while supporting information management,
service management and service-oriented architecture (SOA)
initiatives.
Self Service
Figure 6: Cloud computing can help reduce cost and optimize business.
Agility
Virtualization
Business &
IT Alignment
Standardization
Service
Flexibility
Automation
Industry
Standards
Reduced
Cost
Optimized
Business
+
+
+
+
+
+ =
=
It should be noted that, although cloud computing offers
distinct advantages, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Organizations must carefully consider delivery models,
workloads and infrastructure readiness. For cloud
implementations to be successful, government agencies and
departments need to work effectively internally, with other
agencies and even with organizations in the private sector.
Boundaries are vanishing and there is a call for departments
to be comfortable and thrive in a new ecosystem that
requires interdependent partnerships and shared resources.
This is also what IBM found during our survey of public
sector CEOs, and was much clearer at the local and regional
level (Figure 7).
Perform
in-house
National
Regional
Local
Partner
extensively
66%
78%
79%
24%
18%
13%
10%
4%
8%
How will you change your operating strategy:
Figure 7: Partnering extensively is named as the top method of changing
operating strategies.

What kind of cloud offerings are available
to the government?
There are different types of cloud offerings (Figure 8), all of
which can help governments manage their application growth
and computing costs better.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is both a user experience and a business
model that offers users access to their applications from
anywhere, with any connected device. Applications, data and
IT resources are provided to users as services delivered over
the network. It enables self-service, economies of scale and
flexible sourcing of options.
Many people have used cloud services without even realizing
it. For example, web-based email from Google and Yahoo,
applications on the web such as Salesforce.com and social
media applications like Facebook and Twitter all make use
of cloud services. These services are in data centers where
computational resources can be dynamically provisioned and
shared to achieve significant economies of scale. So, in effect,
cloud computing can also be seen as a way of managing large
number of resources stored in multiple locations so they
resemble a single large virtualized resource.
Private
IT capabilities are provided “as a
service,” over an intranet, within the
enterprise and behind the firewall
Public
IT activities / functions are
provided “as a service,”
over the internet
Enterprise
data center
Enterprise
data center
managed
private cloud Hosted private cloud Shared cloud services
Enterprise
A B
Public cloud services
Users
A B
Enterprise
Figure 8: Types of cloud offerings.
private cloud
Third-party
operated
Third-party hosted
and operated
Hybrid
Internal and external service
delivery methods are integrated

Public
The infrastructure in a public cloud is owned and managed
by an organization selling cloud services and is made available
to the general public. In this model, multiple subscribing
clients access computing capabilities and services (such as
standardized business processes, applications and infrastructure
services) on a flexible, pay-per-use basis. Governments that
have high level of maturity in managing IT and outsource
services can benefit from public cloud offerings. Many
agencies in the UK government fall into this category.
Private
The infrastructure in a private cloud is operated solely for a
user organization. The organization can own the private cloud
or they can engage a third party to host it — either on site or
off. A private cloud provides restricted access to the computing
capabilities and resources to be shared by employees, internal
departments such as human resources, IT or marketing and
external partners such as distributors and manufacturers.
Private cloud computing helps drive efficiency, standardization
and best practices in the services it provides and lets you
retain greater customization and control than public clouds
would permit. Government agencies and departments with
specialized requirements might find private cloud suitable
to their needs.
Hybrid
The infrastructure in a hybrid cloud consists of a
combination of both private cloud and public cloud features.
In this model, computing capabilities and resources are
owned and maintained by both the user organization and
the cloud provider. An organization uses public cloud
computing capabilities and services for general computing,
but stores customer and sensitive data in its private cloud
to ensure security.
Deciding which type is best
To compare the benefits of public clouds with those of
traditional dedicated services, you should evaluate the software
services provided by application service providers (ASPs)
compared to the software services that are available on
the public cloud. Similarly, for private clouds, you should
compare the traditional hosted enterprise IT infrastructure
available in data centers to services that are available from
a private cloud.

Types of services provided by
cloud computing
Cloud computing provisions and delivers standardized IT
services to users over a network (Internet or intranet) in a
flexible pricing and usage model. The users are only aware
of the service. The service provider is responsible for
implementing the service and managing the required
infrastructure. In addition to provisioning and virtualization,
the cloud model also de-provisions these services so they can
be reallocated for other purposes. The concept of repurposing
and reuse is a key tenet of cloud computing.
The cloud infrastructure focuses squarely on efficient
utilization of the base infrastructure (Figure 9). This includes
virtualization, routing and storage management. The cloud
platform manages the services running on the infrastructure.
The services provided by the cloud are what the consumers
actually use.
Business process as a service
Business process as a service (BPaaS) describes a situation
where a third party leases business processes and capabilities
to a company so that the company does not have to handle
them in-house. The services are available by network and
the company either pays as it uses the services or makes a
low, upfront investment to get started.
Suitable as
incremental
Suitable as core
Suitable as core
May contribute
partly, may provide
redundancy
Cloud computing
Traditional IT**
Variable demand for
provisioning of
services
Stable demand for
services from users
Variability in demand
Vs. Cloud*
Figure 9: Cloud infrastructure matrix.
*The attractiveness of cloud computing will vary based on the type of service offered
**Traditional IT denotes an organization’s owning and managing IT infrastructure/applications

Infrastructure as a service
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) provides hardware
components such as servers, network equipment, memory,
computer processing and disk space. With IaaS, a government
could run all operations without installing and maintaining
in-house data centers. The approach to the delivery of these
services varies from provider to provider.
Software as a service
Software as a service (SaaS) is the distribution of software
hosted by a provider in a central and remote location, made
available to consumers over a network. SaaS uses a pay-as
you-go pricing model, which decreases or increases the
number of software licenses based on need, eliminating the
procurement, installation or maintenance of software or
hardware, along with ongoing maintenance costs. When
organizations use the SaaS delivery model, they can access
business applications such as accounts payable and customer
loyalty — and can do so virtually.
Platform as a service
With platform as a service (PaaS), the complete application
development and deployment platform (both hardware and
software) can be delivered as a service over the Internet or
company network. Developers can create, test, deploy and host
applications quickly, without having to bear the cost and
complexity of buying and managing the underlying software
and hardware. PaaS is often referred to as “cloudware.” In
some cases, web services, web 2.0 capabilities and middleware
are offered as an integrated platform on which applications can
be built, assembled and run.

Applications of cloud for government
Four key applications of cloud for government are in line with
the four key areas identified earlier in this paper (Figure 10).
These applications are new services for citizens, computing
environment management, sustainable and green government
and enterprise collaboration. In addition to these applications
and delivery models, we also recommend community clouds.
With community cloud, agencies and departments can share
resources in a secure environment.
But where should you start?
A key criterion for cloud application selection and adoption is
workload. Figure 11 shows current cloud deployments for
work loads based on 110 case studies of cloud computing
implementations. The top three workloads have a much larger
focus than the rest.
Figure 10: Cloud applications for government.
New services
on the Cloud
Sustainable
and Green
Government
through cloud
Manage compute
environment on
the Cloud
Strengthen
security through
enterprise
collaboration
Government
Municipal and Central
Government
Community cloud
Decision support
and Analytics
Collaboration
(collaborative
computing)
Business apps
Web infrastructure
IT infrastructure/
infrastructure
services
Application
development
and test
100%80%60%40%20%0%
Current Cloud adoption for this workload
Future (2012) Cloud adoption for this workload
Figure 11: Current workloads and cloud.

Besides workload, other parameters such as regulation and
data sensitivity can help you define what workloads to move to
which type of cloud. Figure 12 shows a comprehensive review
of cloud readiness.
An IBM Component Business Model can also help
government agencies, organizations and edpartments identify
areas where cloud can be used. Component business modeling
is a technique for analyzing an enterprise by first partitioning
it into relatively independent business components.
For example, a municipal government can map its components
and identify the areas that can transition to the cloud model,
depending on the priorities and level of readiness of each.
In addition, the municipality can also identify common
components that can be used for all business area or
departments, such as program evaluation or oversight,
record retention and more.
Figure 13 illustrates some opportunities for consideration
(green represents public cloud; orange indicates private/hybrid
cloud opportunities).
Figure 12: Identifying workloads for the cloud

Using a component business model, a government or
government agency can anticipate the impact of cloud
from a business perspective. This also enables organizations
to transition successfully to the cloud model.
New services for citizens
Public sector leaders see the cloud services development
landscape evolving very quickly. Many cities and municipalities
are realizing that rapid innovation with software that provides
citizens with new services that they can access from a variety
of devices could become their major differentiator. Web traffic
from mobile devices such as smart phones is increasing.
Citizens expect their mobile web pages to be highly responsive,
to be available any time they need them and to provide
increasing amounts of information. Meeting this demand
requires device detection, web acceleration and caching
strategies to keep fresh content in the cloud in near
proximity to the consumer.
Figure 13: Sample Component Business Model for a municipality
City Vision &
Strategy
Spatial
Strategy
Event Strategy
Development
Environmental Impact
Management
Business
Analytics
Contract
Management
Town Planning
Property Valuation
Building Control
Property & Land
Management
Operations
Management
Strategic
Planning
Urban
Planning
Health &
Human
Services
Economic &
Human
Development
Services
Safety &
Information
Management
Strategy
Finance Public
Infrastructure
& Services
Provincial Liaison &
Communications
City Social Services
Strategy
Housing
Administration
Social Services
Oversight
Health Services
Oversight
Environment Health
Management
Personal Health
Services Delivery
Housing
Coordination
Eligibility
Determination
Social Services
Delivery
Heritage Preservation
Human Dev
& Arts Program
Marketing &
Outreach
Cultural Institutions
Oversight
Human
Development
Program
Management
Event Management
Human
Development
Strategy
Cultural Heritage
& Arts
Development
Strategy
Mitigation &
Preparedness
Strategic Planning
Governance &
Multi-jurisdictional
Coordination
Policy
Disaster
Management
Multi-jurisdictional
Communications
& Relationship
Management
Safety & Security
Workforce
Development
Prevention &
Awareness Activities
Emergency Response
Law Enforcement
Activities
Budgeting &
Financial
Planning
Policy Development
& Response
Development
Capability
Management
Obligations &
Expenditures
Monitoring
Financial Auditing
& Compliance
Monitoring
Investment
Management
Debt
Management
Billing & Collections
Supply Chain
Budget Execution
Credit Control &
Legal Processing
Debt Operations
Service Policy
and Strategy
Installation
Engineering
Cutoffs &
Reconnections
Usage Monitoring
Transportation
Operations
Traffic Systems &
Road Construction
Municipal
Management
Services
Investment
Facilitation
Strategy
Human Capital
Planning
IT & GIS Strategic
Planning
Operations Standards,
Policies & Guidance
Facilities &
Asset Planning
Spatial Information
Management
Environment Health
Services Delivery
Determination
Sports Facilities
& Events
Libraries
Economic
Development Services
Security Services
Volunteer Personnel
Operations
Event
Preparedness
Public Safety
Management
Insurance
Utilities Service
Installation
Service Delivery
Maintenance &
Troubleshooting
Environmental/
Conservation
Management
Regulatory Liaison
& Communications
Compliance &
Regulatory
Reporting
Performance
Monitoring
Occupational
Health & Safety
Legislative Affairs
& Ward
Representation
Workforce
Management
and Planning
Risk Assurance
Legal Services
Fleet Maintenance
Workforce Devlp
Service Delivery
Citizen Relationship
HR IT
Facilities Maint.
Committee Support
& Administration
PR &
Communications
Knowledge Mgmt.
Election Operations
Public Cloud Opportunity
Private/Hybrid Cloud opportunity
* Please note the components could differ for
your municipality

Social media integration is another way that contact between
the public sector and citizens is changing. Government
departments have embraced social media such as Facebook,
Twitter and MySpace to promote messages and build direct
conversations with citizens.
Using cloud, government agencies can launch new services or
transition existing services for different devices and delivery
formats using the cloud — making what was once an abstract
idea a reality (Figure 14). Component business models can
help them identify quick wins for cloud adoption with
managed risks. For example, combining data from various
departments can lead to the development of applications that
drive Smarter Cities™
and smarter government.
Business recovery/disaster recovery in the cloud
In one of the US states, the governor was directed to
safeguard the government’s mission critical data and functions.
So, the government began work on the development of a
comprehensive plan to ensure that critical government
services could and would continue to function in the event
of an emergency. An impact analysis summary report was
developed for each application and they formed the basis
for a centralized solution for the government cloud facility.
By consolidating the government continuity and disaster
recovery with the agencies, the government realized additional
operational cost savings of $120,000 per year.
Figure 14: Using cloud to make abstract ideas reality

Cloud software services are attractive for the public sector as a
platform because they are easy to use and promote efficiency.
For example, service composition links independent services
for additional value. It also defines the basis for a public/private
ecosystem with initial trials in Smarter Cities. Public sector
organizations and agencies can launch numerous new services
when they use Service Composition on top of existing services.
A government applications store can help public sector
organizations share and reuse online business applications,
services and components (Figure 15).
Infrastructure that supports new services for citizens can use
cloud technologies to recognize and respond to the four key
trends and challenges. Putting server systems and storage in
the cloud can help public sector agencies and departments
handle an increasing amount of case management and analysis
in a virtual environment. Cloud makes it possible for resources
not only to be shared in numerous projects and location but
also to be rapidly applied to high-priority projects such as
integration of heterogeneous operating environments.
Using cloud storage technologies, organizations can access
data from multiple sources, share it with and between multiple
sites and manage the content throughout its life cycle. This
includes support for citizen data management (the metadata
that captures the pedigree of information — who, what, when,
where), models for analysis, stimulus generators, test cases
and the storage of analysis results.
As important as it is to get your message out, it is now
equally important to learn what others are saying about you.
To gain this insight, government agencies and departments
have to monitor all kinds of input from all kinds of sources.
The application of business analytics to sift through these
messages can help them identify what citizens want to know,
and what are their top concern areas.
Figure 15: Sample cloud infrastructure for supporting new services
for citizens.

The capture of web metrics and the application of business
analytics can also help determine citizen interest in the
incentives offered. This information can be used to help tune
the incentive amount by increasing the amount if consumer
interest appears low and decreasing the incentive when citizen
interest indicates incentives may not be necessary. Cloud-based
business analytics may reduce the time needed to identify
changes in economic trends in response to an economic
stimulus and shorten the reaction time needed to introduce
counter measures
Manage computing environment
Government agencies are faced with numerous challenges
in the IT computing environment. Data center demand for
computing capabilities continues to increase as organizations
operate business processes and provide business analytics.
Storage needs are growing rapidly to handle the increased
volume of data being created by government activities.
Storage cloud technologies can help government departments
address their storage needs.
Virtualization breaks the one-to-one connection between
a system and the hardware on which it runs. Virtual servers
can be migrated from machine to machine transparently.
As equipment reaches the end of serviceable life, new
equipment can be introduced to the server pool while the
old server is removed from the pool. No reimplementation
or integration efforts are required to swap an old server
in a pool for a new server. Cloud technologies can further
improve a virtualization solution by extending the
provisioning of the resources necessary for virtual servers.
IT virtualization services helps a state government
In one of the US states, IT personnel had been consolidated into
a single department in 2005, but servers and data center
functions were scattered over 38 separate locations. This led to
costly support, high utility costs and inconsistent standards for
hosting services. The state engaged IBM to help them resolve
the issue in early 2009. IBM helped the state consolidate 37 data
centers into two data centers, virtualizing the state’s server
environment, establishing a highly available, redundant SAN for
enterprise storage, and beefing up the core state network to
support the new services. By the end of 2009, 510 servers had
been moved to the virtualized infrastructure.

It is not uncommon for the test and development
environments of government agencies and organizations to
be underutilized. Maintaining these environments is so
expensive that agencies departments often prefer to let those
machines sit idle until they are needed. Rapid automated
provisioning and de-provisioning of services (made possible
by moving entire images online and offline quickly) are core
functions of virtualization, and this includes entire software
configuration environments. Virtualized development and test
environment images can be moved online or offline in the
cloud at a lower cost, making it possible for the underlying
infrastructure to be used for provisioning new services.
As data volumes grow, the ability to provision vast amounts
of low-cost storage is becoming increasingly difficult for
government agencies and departments, and increasingly
easy using storage clouds. Government departments rely
on storage with high-performance data access and robust
backup and recovery mechanisms. Lost hours from prolonged
data recovery — or lost data from insufficient back up
intervals — can put entire programs at risk. Information
protection services provided by cloud technologies can
help government departments mitigate these risks.
Outside the data center, the traditional desktop client
continues to have a significant role in government departments
and agencies. With it comes the traditional problem: how to
cut computing costs with centralized management and not
infringe on the user’s personal control of the computing
environment. According to Gartner Research, the indirect
costs of a typical desktop computer are twice the direct costs;
however, if IT were to virtualize the graphical user interface
(GUI) of all personal computer applications and manage the
software centrally, indirect IT costs would be cut in half.
For IT, that represents a considerable amount of savings.1
Cloud technologies make it possible for thin clients or other
Internet-connected devices to access managed, platform-
independent hosted applications and full client images.
Greener government
According to an IBM whitepaper titled “The Greening of
Government: A Study of How Governments Define the
Green Agenda,” industry and government executives
interviewed for the paper cited the top three green
government priorities worldwide today: green buildings,
green transportation and green procurement. Cloud
technology can facilitate the energy reduction capabilities
that are needed for each of these priorities.

Energy consumption has put data centers at a tipping point
(Figure 16). The need to obtain the necessary power and
cooling to handle the increasing computing demands has
become a serious consideration and is altering long-held
cost dynamics. The amount of energy that data centers use
is doubling every five years.2
Global electricity prices are
increasing 10 to 25 percent per year.3
This presents a
formidable challenge to government agencies, organizations
and departments as their budgets are cut or remain flat,
at the same time that they are struggling with hardware
that is no longer serviceable and implementation and
integration projects.
“Data is exploding
and it is in silos”
“New business &
process demands”
“My infrastructure is
inflexible and costly”
“Our resources
are limited”
I need insight I need to work
smart
I need to respond
quickly
I need
efficiency
New
Intelligence
Smarter
Work
Dynamic
Infrastructure
Green &
Beyond
How can
government
collect, analyze
and use
information in
real time from a
multitude of
sources to make
intelligent
choices?
How can
government
work smarter,
supported by
dynamic processes
modeled for
flexibility and
changing
environment
How does
government drive
greater efficiencies,
by taking action
now on energy,
environment and
sustainability?
How can
government
create an
infrastructure that
drives down the
cost, is intelligent
and secure?
Figure 16: Cloud computing and a greener government.
Opportunities exist for public sector organizations, agencies
and departments to employ cloud technologies to reduce their
data center and energy footprint with virtualization, while at
the same time addressing the end of serviceable life problem.
Virtualization technology is a key component of cloud
computing. Converting multiple physical servers into virtual
servers in a server pool can result in lower power and cooling
consumption. Cloud can also help move servers that have
reached the end of their serviceable lives into a server pool on
current hardware, where they reside as virtual servers.
Enterprise collaboration
The notion of the “workplace” has changed. Work is
increasingly performed over the cloud on the business
premises of partners and suppliers, at home and in coffee
shops. Governments are looking to simplify and expose
internal resources to any user, from any device, from any
location. Cloud applications that make the most of web
technologies will enable device-independent access to a
secure, unified, global public sector organization — from
inside or outside the organization. They can span isolated
organizations and applications with templates that define
common structured useful to many clients. These standard
elements support efficiency and variations satisfy client-specific
needs. For example, local governments each deliver services,
but each has unique processes and policies (Figure 17).

Enterprise collaboration must simplify communication by
combining available communications channels, promising
anywhere/anytime connectivity over the cloud. To make that
happen, government departments need capabilities that:
• Connect to the people they do business with using instant
messaging, chat functionality, voice, video and desktop
sharing.
• Understand the availability and location of colleagues using
wired or wireless presence.
• Create communities, collaborate in online team rooms and
search for other workers based on skills, projects and
communities of interest.
• Gain access to shared files from anywhere.
Figure 17: Templates and variations in cloud solutions.
Government agencies and organizations are feeling the
pressure to adapt to the consumer technology wave with
its ever-increasing diversification of mobile telephone and
computing platform options. Increasingly, employee-owned
smart phones and laptop computers with built-in connections
to the cloud are making their way into the workplace.
In response, public sector agencies, organizations and
departments should consider removing barriers to
collaboration by providing integrated tools over the cloud
that make it possible to share of business information over
multiple technologies and devices inside and outside of
the government.
Collaboration environment enabled by cloud helps in
improving not only efficiency but also security and safety.
Different agencies can collaborate in real time to identify
threats and take corrective action. This can have an impact to
save lives in the events of natural disasters such as cyclones or
terrorist attacks.
Appl’n A Appl’n B
Appl’n B
Appl’n C
Appl’n C
Gov’t 3
Gov’t 1
Gov’t 2
Req Prop
Acce
Non-
Effec
Crea Req Prop
Can
Acce
Non-
Effec Crea Req Prop
Can Non-
EffecCrea

Community clouds
Cloud computing presents a way to dynamically offer a
service to a community (of agencies and departments) that
will meet their availability and performance needs while
keeping operating costs low (and limited to expenses based
on what was actually used rather than capital investment
based on projections of what the user might need). Community
clouds reserved for government users promise the cost
savings of a public cloud while delivering the security
required for government use.
Email and web services in the cloud
In 2009, the CIO of a US state announced that the state was
preparing a private cloud that would deliver “hosted email and
web applications” to cities and counties in the state. The
virtualized platform initiative for private cloud computing was
initiated in February 2009. By summer, the infrastructure was
ready to begin provisioning services in the central data center.
The solution has been in place for just over 11 months. Since
that time, it has grown to support every executive branch
agency in state government.
Community-based cloud initiatives for both federal and
municipal governments can enable the spread of shared cloud
computing. For example, Federal Community Cloud can
provide a shared IT infrastructure to government users only.
This can allow government agencies to run programs and
access data for a monthly subscription fee. Similarly, Municipal
Shared Services Cloud can provide local software-as-a-service
for municipalities so they can benefit from ready to use
applications. Several cities/municipalities have already signed
up and more are in the process of signing up for the municipal
cloud. Moreover, independent software companies can offer
their products to government users on either community cloud
platform.
Community clouds provide a “pay as you go” model. Another
important driver is speed: “I can deploy resources in this
environment quickly.” This is crucial in environments that
need to grow or shrink quickly. Combine these two drivers and
you get a service that expands or contracts with users’ needs
and lets them pay only for service usage.

How to get started
When adopting cloud computing techniques, tools and
processes, it is important to use a phased approach in
which each step builds upon the previous step. The initial
phase should establish capability, so that evaluation and
testing can determine viability and then enhance those
capabilities as appropriate.
Begin by identifying and prioritizing cloud initiatives.
As we mentioned earlier in this paper, evaluate your “cloud
level of readiness” to determine what to address first and
consider using an IBM Component Business Model to help
you identify areas that could benefit from cloud computing.
Based on our experience, some of the areas we recommend
for consideration include IT virtualization services, email
and web services, business continuity and disaster recovery,
emergency response service and core management services
such as enterprise resource planning, tax payment services
and so forth.
Why IBM
The IBM Institute for Electronic Government can facilitate
discussions on cloud adoption in government. IBM leadership
in cloud computing extends to the delivery of enterprise-wide
solutions. IBM cloud computing offerings make it possible
for your organization to address cost-effectively the
infrastructure issues that impede optimum delivery of
business process services.
IBM has integrated hardware, software, services, global
financing and research offerings that address the operational
and business model transformation needs of the public sector.
We can also demonstrate the benefits of optimized workloads,
integrated service management and choice of delivery models.

What does IBM bring to you?
• Clear economic value. IBM’s portfolio of cloud offerings
helps clients achieve significant savings, rapid payback
and positions for growth.
• Integrated and open solutions. IBM encourages a broader
ecosystem, including developers, ISVs and resellers, with
an open standards approach to developing solutions.
• Security and business readiness. The IBM Security
Framework and Blueprint provides a comprehensive
method for addressing all aspects of security.
• Design for simplicity. IBM is designing our cloud solutions
to have a simple, intuitive, self-service interfaces that
enable users to pull resources from the cloud when and
where they need them.
• Globally relevant. IBM Cloud Labs are in the US, UK, China,
India, Korea, Japan, Ireland, South Africa, Brazil, Hong Kong
and Singapore. IBM has a worldwide network of IBM
Business Partners and delivery centers in 174 countries.
Clear
economic
value
Integrated
and open
Secure and
ready
for business
Designing
for
simplicity
Globally
revelant
Conclusion
Cloud computing can provide the public sector with
substantive benefits. National, state and province and
municipal governments all over the world should evaluate
cloud computing as a viable solution for reducing operating
costs, simplifying business processes and collaborating more
easily with partners, suppliers and citizens.
For more information
To learn more about how cloud computing can help the
Government, visit:
ibm.com/cloud

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011
IBM Corporation
1 New Orchard Road
Armonk, New York 10504-1722
U.S.A.
Produced in the United States of America
March 2011
All Rights Reserved
ibm.com, Component Business Model, Let’s Build a Smarter Planet and
the planet icons are trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. If these and
other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this
information with a trademark symbol (®
or ™
), these symbols indicate U.S.
registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this
information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or
common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks
is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at
ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml
Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service
marks of others.
References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply that
IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates.
1 http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/virtualization/news/view/121206.html
2 US Environmental Protection Agency, Report to Congress on Server and
Data Center Energy Efficiency, Public Law 109-431, August 2, 2007
3 Energy Information Administration, 2001-2008; IBM analysis
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Authors
Nirupam Srivastava
Managing Consultant, Strategy and Transformation

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