How Technology Can Help Governments Move Along a Modernization Path

Cloud computing is the engine that powers agile computing through anytime/anywhere access, allowing people to easily flip the switch from in-office to remote work by making computing available through secure public networks.

Cloud computing sees IT hardware and software delivered as Anything as a Service (XaaS) to organizations that only pay for the compute power and resources they use. It’s a model of IT provisioning that is dominating areas such as business applications, data storage and data management. 

Gartner research reveals 95 percent of new IT investments made by government agencies over the next three years will be in XaaS solutions, which includes several categories of IT infrastructure and software services delivered in the cloud as a subscription-based service. The benefits of moving to the cloud include:

Cost certainty and savings

Cloud service providers charge monthly recurring fees, making it a predictable expense. When computing hardware capability or software is a managed service delivered through the cloud, it eliminates the need and expense of in-house IT management, plus costs such as electrical power consumption for the operation and cooling of high-end IT equipment.

Faster deployment

Typical in-house installation and deployment of software and hardware can take weeks or months and usually requires IT expertise to perform the work. Through economies of scale achieved by serving many customers and continually modernizing their resources and facilities, cloud providers can afford to recruit and retain the IT expertise that many governments cannot.

Pay as needed

With cloud computing services, public-service organizations simply purchase additional technology resources when required. Many providers also offer modular systems, so only the needed modules may be acquired. Conversely, if resources are no longer needed, then a government organization can reduce or eliminate IT application licences, unused functions or systems.

Increased access

Among the most compelling aspects of cloud computing is a shift away from enterprise data centres being the focal point for computing capability, removing the constraints of locked away IT resources. Access to IT through secured, public-cloud-delivered services support computing from any connected location and through any secured device. 

Moving to the cloud and using public networks to support today’s hybrid workforce makes it possible to deliver more online services and support to the public and drives stronger engagement with them. But it also raises questions and concerns around cybersecurity, often a high priority for government entities.      

According to a 2022 CDW white paper, How Zero-Trust Architecture Improves Data Protection, “Moving data and applications outside the traditional perimeter renders perimeter-focused network security controls obsolete. Cybercriminals and state actors now identify prime targets and pursue them with sophisticated techniques. Organizations seeking to survive and thrive in this evolving environment must deploy dynamic and flexible security controls that protect both users and data wherever they reside.” 

CDW's recent research on The State of Penetration Testing in Canada shows cyberattacks increasing and organizations needing to exercise greater caution to ensure necessary steps are taken to safeguard their networks. In a survey of 500 respondents, including those in government, the most common types of cybersecurity breaches cited in the past two years were: ransomware attacks (34 percent), business email compromises (34 percent) and phishing attacks (33 percent).

A Deloitte paper entitled Closing the Gap in The Cyber Skills Domain, written for the 2023 World Government Summit, observes that in order to manage and develop a digital public administration, “leaders and employees must hold the required skills and a good understanding of digital tools and technologies, as well as the ability to manage projects in an effective way to ensure a timely benefit.”

With cybersecurity and other IT skills in high demand, and lucrative job opportunities offered in private industries, government civil services are hard pressed to attract such talent. As a result, many are partnering with world-class solutions providers who can fill that need and help develop a more strategic approach. 

CDW Canada is among those partners who have the breath of solutions and services to help government organizations achieve IT success. CDW Canada has professional teams in offices across every major city in Canada, and is helping organizations, including those in government, fill the IT and cybersecurity skills gap with professional and managed services as well as staff augmentation programs. In fact, 76 percent of CDW employees are customer-facing and focused on delivering customer value.

“We work with top IT vendors in the industry to deliver the best technology solutions that the market has to offer,” says Matt Edwards, a public sector senior manager at CDW Canada. “Combined with our services, we take the complexity out of technology integration and management and support the efforts of governments everywhere to modernize and digitally transform. We help them achieve the outcomes they desire.”

COVID-19 was arguably the largest disruption of work in recent history. More than three years later, people continue to balance their work and home.

Statistics Canada reported that almost 60 percent of those in Canadian public administration worked from home in 2020, and by December 2021 more than 50 percent continued to work remotely. Here in 2023, hybrid work is now and for the foreseeable future firmly in place for Canadian federal public service employees who are only required to be onsite at least two to three days per week.

Since the pandemic, the move to hybrid working has become a norm for many organizations, but it is creating new challenges. Hybrid work continues to drive dialogue around the need for introducing and optimizing digital workspaces to ensure that all employees are connected and engaged. Adopting cloud technology through a hybrid infrastructure is also required so that processes can be further automated, files can be shared and transparency and accountability are maintained. 

A crucial aspect of hybrid work is implementing some form of team software so that individuals can communicate with each other easily using instant messaging, voice and video calling. It's vital to manage impromptu meetings carefully and make sure certain relevant employees working from home are always included. This could be done by having a meeting venue with conferencing facilities or by getting each team member to join the impromptu meeting from their computers.

As governments move deeper into the hybrid working era, they’ll need to review legacy solutions and implement technology that facilitates hybrid work. Many existing remote working technology solutions work equally well as hybrid work technology. Three key focus points include hybrid-friendly software, internet access and hardware.

When setting up a hybrid working environment, there's no one right solution. Every hybrid work solution is different, and the right answer depends on your current level of technology, the type of work performed and your hybrid workforce. CDW Canada has comprehensive experience with orchestrating the right remote working technology and has helped all types of organizations make a smooth transition to the new normal of hybrid work.

There’s always a need for speed when looking to modernize. Today’s technologies can usually be much more quickly implemented than the time it takes to go through solicitation for technology solutions and support. Procurement and IT government teams understand the problem to solve but may not always be knowledgeable about the ultimate solution. Issues such as digital transformation, cybersecurity, cloud technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are complex. The typical RFP process is usually overly prescriptive and can be slow and expensive. 

Cooperative procurement, also known as group buying, offers a simpler and faster way to obtain IT solutions and services. As the solicitation has already been conducted, the resulting contract can offer a broad array of solutions to address many government challenges. Suppliers who respond to such solicitations must anticipate the broad needs of various entities, generally providing multiple choices through a wider breadth of technology catalogue and services while offering value-added solutions and access to solution architects who have deep technical expertise.

Advisory and consulting services, offered as part of the awarded cooperative contract, are among the value-added services that CDW Canada can deliver. Their architects can design and propose a solution based on a client’s unique environment, policies and goals. Other examples of value-add can include lifecycle management services, inventory management, spend consolidation when sourcing a broad set of products (including niche software publishers unique to the government sector), supplier diversity and broader environment, social and governance (ESG) initiative alignment and support.

Moving away from a transactional relationship to that of a partnership is a growing phenomenon that is supported through cooperative procurement. Saving time and advantageous pricing are among the biggest reasons why procurement teams choose this contracting tool.

“By combining requirements, there is the opportunity to reduce costs and prices for all participating public sector agencies,” says Chris Penny of Kinetic GPO, a co-operative purchasing solution for the Canadian public sector. “Cost savings are achieved through the reduction of administrative time in the bid process, including the development of statements of work, establishing the evaluation criteria and performing the evaluation of the submissions. These tasks are handled by Kinetic GPO versus each participant having to do the work themselves.” 

The entire bid process is conducted in accordance with all requirements of trade agreements to provide compliance assurance. “This savings of time allows public-sector agencies to focus on other strategic procurement activities,” Penny says. “Volume pricing is achieved by combining the requirements of all Kinetic GPO participants across Canada.”

Kinetic GPO participants can look to CDW Canada to assess, architect, implement, operate and manage technology to help public-service agencies work smarter. Through its partnership with Kinetic, CDW Canada has provided support for many government customers over the years, including the delivery of critical IT services for a southwestern Ontario municipality. The project featured network, cybersecurity and maturity assessments focused on supporting modernization and important business decisions.

“We serve our customers in the present and help them plan for the future,” says Steve Hett, an Advanced Technology Account Executive with CDW Canada who has 20 years of IT solution design, implementation and project management experience. “We are the IT experts and continue to support the efforts of governments in doing important things with technology by bringing together services and solutions to help public-service organizations modernize, transform and achieve the outcomes they seek.”