Government agencies around the world are making strong progress in adopting cloud office platforms such as those from Microsoft and Google, according to global IT analyst company Gartner.
It has published research saying that cloud office is the only government digital technology to enter the ‘plateau of productivity’ in its ‘hype cycle’.
This applies its model for the adoption of a new technology in which there is often a strong surge of interest, followed by an equally strong decline, after which an increasing number of practical solutions are adopted to take it to a level at which it makes a significant contribution to productivity.
The 2019 Gartner Hype Cycle for Digital Government Technology report says that governments are adopting cloud office platforms in an effort to consolidate collaboration environments, reduce costs, redeploy IT staff, simplify operations and provide more functionality to users more quickly.
It adds that the services will have a transformational impact in less than two years, with government agencies either adopting private clouds or acknowledging that public cloud is secure, and an increasing number of countries adopting ‘cloud first policies’. It cites Brazil, Colombia and Kuwait as examples of the latter.
Over 50%
Jeffrey Mann, research vice president at Gartner, said: “Cloud office penetration has passed 50% across organisations and adoption among government agencies in particular is growing strongly.
“Cloud office has become an accepted cornerstone of most government agencies’ collaboration and communications infrastructure strategies.”
On a broader front, the report says digital government technology platforms will have a transformational impact for many governments in the next two to five years as they make it possible to retire legacy systems and infrastructure and achieve greater economies of scale.
They also provide a range of services covering areas including appointments, payments and eligibility for benefits.
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