The challenges of public sector cloud migration: becoming Consciously Hybrid

[PresidentNtuli]

The challenges of public sector cloud migration: becoming Consciously Hybrid

Digital transformation, hybrid cloud and AI were once again in the spotlight at the ITWeb Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Executive Forum held in Midrand in August. Presenters looked at the requirement for a more strategic approach to gain control over the IT estate, addressing the challenges of cloud migration.

The continuous transformation

There’s no doubt that there is a need for public organisations to digitally transform. A modern infrastructure allows the public sector to keep pace with the continuing development of technology and harness the benefits of a cloud-based environment, as well as meeting the requirements set by government. However, it’s essential that the process is carefully planned, and tailored to each organisation’s requirements, making decisions around strategy, model and policy. There is no quick fix or one-size-fits-all model, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that it’s impossible to simply lift and shift complete environments. The transformation should therefore be seen as a continuing journey, rather than a destination.

Cloud repatriation is also an important theme that runs through digital transformation, with many organisations choosing to move workloads back on-premises, with a view to saving money. Migrating too quickly, without a well-defined strategy, may have been costly for some, but repatriating at the same pace may well have a similar outcome. A comprehensive cloud migration plan is essential, taking advice from experts and ensuring the correct platform can support your architecture.

The executive event looked in detail at how to ensure success at every step of this transformation journey, exploring a hybrid cloud model for a more strategic approach, addressing complexity, reducing spend and avoiding wasted resources.

Consciously hybrid cloud

Cloud can accelerate a digital transformation, but a ‘cloud first’ or ‘cloud only’ approach focuses on ‘where’ data and workloads are hosted, rather than ‘how’. There is a real risk of disjointed strategies, with legacy applications impossible to move to the public cloud and security and compliance issues arising. HPE research reported that 57% of respondents in South Africa’s public sector have over 51% of their workloads remaining on-premises.

A Consciously Hybrid approach to cloud intentionally balances the IT portfolio across on-premises, public cloud and the edge, bringing together legacy applications and modern technology in the most effective way. This concept allows workloads to reside where they operate best, increasing control over the estate and solving the issues of legacy tech, data sovereignty, compliance and data cost and control.

This hybrid approach supports the shift to driving operations at the edge. According to IDC research, 150 billion edge devices will be connected worldwide by 2025, and Gartner predicts over 50% of enterprise managed data will be created and processed at the edge. Having this data is critical, but knowing what to do with it, and creating value from it, is even more important.

HPE GreenLake offers a secure, flexible and simple platform in a consumption-based model, providing the security, agility and responsiveness of a hybrid-by-design approach. Providing a cloud-like experience across on-premises environments, public cloud and at the edge, HPE GreenLake streamlines processes and boosts efficiencies with automation. It’s essential to have this strong foundation from which to explore further technologies, including AI.

Adopting AI effectively

There may be a race to deploy AI in the public sector, but it’s vital that there is a strategy and use case for every AI solution adopted. A good foundation and standard framework will ensure that AI is implemented in a measured and efficient way. The first step is to understand its place and how it will be used, before securing buy-in from management. It’s essential to demonstrate the solution to a known issue, understand how to scale AI initiatives, and evidence the benefits of the outcome. The next step is to secure a robust and flexible hybrid cloud IT infrastructure to support any AI deployment.

AI has significant promise for the public sector, enhancing service delivery, streamlining operations and making data-driven decisions. However, it can still be something of an enigma; a broad term without any single clear definition. This is why we work to make AI accessible, practical and understandable to a wider market.

Find out more: see how senior technology leaders across the public sector in South Africa are embracing a hybrid cloud approach to their IT modernisation strategy.

President Ntuli
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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