SINGAPORE, 2 September 2019 – For decades, Microsoft has been a trusted partner to public sector customers, helping them to safely and effectively use technology to deliver better services. In keeping with that track record, we are pleased to announce the publication of Navigating Your Way to the Cloud: A Practical Guide for Public-Sector Organizations.
Citizens expect a similar level of service from their governments to what they experience in their other daily interactions. This requires governments to keep up with changing technologies. From schools to courts, tax offices to defense departments, cloud-based solutions are the latest transformative technologies that public sector agencies at all levels are increasingly using to transform the way they operate.
Understanding how to navigate complex procurement processes that are not designed for modern technology is a challenge that often slows adoption of cloud-based solutions by public sector institutions. That is where Navigating Your Way to the Cloud comes in. It provides a simple, systematic framework to help agencies understand how to ensure they deploy secure, efficient cloud-computing solutions.
The framework revolves around four dynamic, inter-related steps:
- Make a clear, unambiguous statement advocating public cloud
- Follow standardized and transparent IT procurement processes
- Establish a written project and deployment plan with the selected provider
- Enter into a compliant contract
“Digital transformation of the public sector is not about IT,” says Jarom Britton, Regional Attorney – Health, Education and Government, Microsoft Asia. “It is about governments changing how they operate in an increasingly connected, technology-intensive world. Navigating Your Way to the Cloud helps governments focus on the transformation they want to achieve by giving them confidence that they can procure the digital technologies that will allow them to realize their goals.”
A key highlight of the booklet is that each section includes practical information about how Microsoft stands ready at each stage of the process to help decision-makers and project managers effectively evaluate and successfully deploy solutions. It also includes several examples of governments that are already seeing the benefits of cloud-based technology.
Navigating Your Way to the Cloud is available as a free download from the Government section of the newly-revamped Microsoft Trusted Cloud – Asia website. This section includes additional resources and materials relevant to government customers, links to public sector customer case studies and further information about Microsoft’s security, privacy, compliance and transparency profile.
Reiterating Microsoft’s commitment to proactively engaging with governments’ agendas, Britton added, “At the end of the day it’s about shared responsibility and shared opportunity, recognizing that we only succeed in this space if our public-sector customers succeed. They have bold ambitions and we all need to work collaboratively to achieve the outcomes that we will all benefit from.”