The past couple of years have seen the launch of the Cloud First Initiative in government as a means of reducing IT costs and deploying effective solutions faster.  Cloud computing offers the easiest way for government agencies to increase their flexibility, responsiveness, and capacity through a scalable, trusted platform.  Bringing down overall spending has resulted in a shift towards the notion that Government, like private enterprise, can do more with less.  With faster networks, cheaper processors, and mobile devices on the rise, today we are in the dawn of a new era of government technology, one that’s more efficient and innovative, more mobile and social, and more cost-effective overall.  

Agencies large and small are taking advantage of this opportunity to boost productivity and become more collaborative by moving to a safe, trusted, secure government cloud.  That means better program and project management, constituent outreach, case and records management, citizen engagement, and economic development for departments at the federal, state, and local level whose responsibilities span education, health, commerce, transit, and international affairs just to name a few. 

That’s movement, for sure, but the real kicker is this: 55% of government agencies that have begun this technological transition are amplifying their effectiveness by incorporating an AppExchange app. The AppExchange is the leading cloud marketplace for business solutions, that helps government agencies streamline their business processes like any private enterprise.  Take, for example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Their method of tracking IT helpdesk tickets was based on paper-and-email which was difficult to use and even more difficult to measure successes.  With Remedyforce from BMC, a popular IT helpdesk app, they moved their system to the cloud in 3-6 months less than it would have taken them to implement an on-premise system, and at a lower cost.  Users were impressed by the ease of use, and the increased efficiencies keep issues and projects moving forward.

Government, welcome to the cloud.

And the cloud is ready and waiting for you!  Last year, we launched the AppExchange for Government, which has almost doubled in size to include 100+ government-ready cloud-based applications.  Talk about momentum!  These apps either have a specific functionality that’s relevant to a government organization, or currently have government customers, or both.  A few recent notable additions to this group include: 

• BasicGov makes Land Management affordable, fast, secure, and, dare I say, sexy!  With automation of permits, inspections, code enforcement, licensing and planning and a strong mobile component, BasicGov helps improve efficiency and productivity for government agencies.
• HomeKeeper is an app designed specifically for affordable homeownership programs.  By bringing all of the documentation and tracking information into one place, HomeKeeper saves local homeownership programs time and money.
• ELTON uses QR codes and mobile devices to track who’s using which equipment and where in the cloud.  So imagine you need a lot of tools for, say, implementing disaster relief; tracking individual tools to the person using them is a difficult problem to solve.  ELTON does it easily and cost-effectively.

These apps are pretty specific about what they do, but there are general solutions as well for better document generation, document management, geo-location, project management, and more on the AppExchange for Government. 

Momentum in the supply of enterprise apps coupled with momentum in the demand for enterprise apps from the public sector… I don’t want to jump the gun, but I think we are heading towards a 21^st Century Government.  Government, to the Cloud!