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Cloud Computing and the Australian Government

Glenn Archer First Assistant SecretaryAustralian Government Information Management OfficeMay 2011

Overview2

Cloud Computing Strategy

Drivers

Considerations

Progress

Looking Ahead

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Cloud Computing Strategy

• Released in April 2011 – “agencies may choose cloud-based services where they demonstrate value for money and adequate security”

• Developed with agency and industry input

• Both tactical and strategic, based on principles and risk-based approach

• A phased approach to use cloud offerings as they mature, noting that cloud services are still evolving

4 Table 1:  Tactical Application and Use of Cloud by Government at the Information and technology layers ‐ Decisions to transition at the information and services layers should be made based on a risk­managed approach taking into account information assurance requirements. 

    Service Provider View  User View 

Layer  Example  Data Centre with Adv. 

Virtualisation  

Private1 Cloud 

Hybrid cloud 

Community Cloud  

(Incl. G­Cloud) 

Public Cloud 

Information and Services layers 

Citizen‐facing services Citizen‐driven (joined‐up) service delivery (lines of business) 

Business Processes  Consolidated or shared  business processes, for example, Financial, HR, Budgeting, Procurement, content management, case management 

 

Applications  Custom applications/Packaged applications/external services 

Citizen Information  Concerns individual citizens, covered by privacy and data protection (security) 

Public Information  Open government data / mashups Collaborative tools, eg blogs, wikis, data.gov.au 

Technology layer 

Channels (online)  Government websites and portalsWeb2.0 technologies (eg gmail)  Discovery tools, for example Google Search

Technology (Infrastructure) 

IT and telecommunication infrastructure – utility model 

Technology (process / storage capability) 

Process and analyse large datasetsUse as a storage platform 

 

                                                           1 Private Cloud is an Enterprise Cloud as defined by Gartner

3‐5 years

Now

Now

Now

Now 3‐5 years

3‐5 years

6‐10 years3‐5 years

Now

Now

Now

1‐2 years

Now

Current View

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Progress

• Three stream approach to deliverableso i) preparing to adopt cloudo ii) public cloud adoption as offerings matureo iii) WofG approach integrated with the Data Centre Strategy

• Established the Cloud Information Community (CLIC)

• AIIA Cloud Task Force engagement

• Developing guidance to agencies

• Agencies are already using cloud

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Drivers

• Cost savings and financial agility

• Responsiveness – reduced implementation times

• Improved availability/reliability

• Functionality – Cloud offers features we couldn’t build ourselves

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Considerations

• Privacy

• Security

• Local market maturity

• Legacy environments

• Business continuity

• Bandwidth / Latency

• Standards

• Data centre strategy

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Examples

• Private cloud implementation

• Cloud Services

• Data storage in the cloud

• Hybrid Cloud

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Looking Ahead

• Agencies will continue investigating opportunities and implementing cloud solutions where appropriate

• As the cloud matures, our approach will become more strategic

• Improved access to broadband (e.g. NBN) will drive growth and innovation

• The maturity of standards will be a catalyst for growth

• The privacy and security of information will still be a key government concern

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Cloud Computing

Questions