Data management leveraging the cloud is a hot topic as we look toward 2021. As public sector organizations explore how they can better handle data, converge valuable information, and lighten the IT team’s load, it’s important decision-makers focus on a few key areas. “Enterprise data management is at least as salient today as it has ever been – to connect people and processes that may exist in silos,” said Pat Mungovan, Senior Vice President, Oracle North America Public Sector, in a recent podcast.
Oracle’s online Tech Byte series explores modern approaches and benefits of cloud computing in quick, easily consumed mini-webinars that are approximately 15 minutes long. The series kicks off discussing three foundational pillars agencies should consider in any cloud offering.
Agencies should look for a partner that can provide services that are “better, faster, and cheaper,” says Vijaya Vishwanath, Senior Enterprise Cloud Architect, Oracle. Finding the right partner “can significantly reduce your cost of one service by 91 percent.”
The cost savings likely comes with a partner that offers a variety of services paired with world-class security. Vishwanath notes that cloud providers that are FedRAMP authorized and hold a JAB accreditation lead the sector with “scalability, security, and performance.”
Lori Zink, Enterprise Cloud Architect, Public Sector, Oracle, says agencies should focus on the mindset of “your cloud, your way.” This customizable cloud is made possible by a hybrid approach that pairs on-premises infrastructure with applications developed for and run in the cloud.
Zink notes how the hybrid cloud lends itself to development and testing, disaster recovery, and extending data center to the cloud. If agencies aren’t yet looking to hybrid cloud solutions, it’s time to find a partner that can offer reduced cost, reduced risk, and improved agility.
Agencies are often burdened by siloed data sets that are unresponsive and difficult to maintain, says Nitin Vengurlekar, Chief Technology Strategist, Oracle Public Sector. “Historically, developers built large monolithic applications using one data store.”
“Separate teams, moving at a different pace and using their own tools, creating solos for their projects,” have left agencies with a variety of different databases that don’t connect. “From a governance perspective there are potential issues looming,” he said. And that’s why agencies are looking to cloud providers that offer converged databases. These databases can handle multiple models and applications that unsilo data and “are not aggregating data but making sense of that data,” he said.
“When I think about the biggest challenges agencies face today, it really still is how can they deliver the mission more effectively, efficiently, and with better customer service,” said Vengurlekar. “I’m hearing from agency leaders that it’s now all about Cloud Smart, and the hybrid approach is the operating reality for the foreseeable future.”
To learn more about data management in the cloud watch the Tech Byte series here.
