For those in the federal government, the road to cloud migration is paved with organizational and technical challenges, as well as hurdles in procurement. So how is it that moving to the cloud can be made easier for today’s agencies? The answer lies in organizational transparency, commitment to automation, and the right database migration solution.
Cloud migration isn’t an easy course to chart and because of this, there have been initiatives put into place including FedRAMP. However, according to the Ponemon Institute, 69 percent of federal respondents report that over half of their cloud applications aren’t FedRAMP authorized. This means that, for the federal government as a whole, greater FedRAMP compliance is needed. Yet, despite this roadblock, there are still things they can do on their end to make the path to cloud migration smoother.
One thing that can be done to make cloud migration easier is to first prioritize organizational transparency. The reason many agencies are hesitant to move forward with migration is that they’re unsure of their current IT inventory. According to a recent whitepaper, it’s important for federal agencies to “formulate a clear view of their IT inventory and resources in order to move methodically toward the cloud. [In this case] application rationalization is key, as is asking foundational questions: What applications or systems merit investment in people and resources? What processes will benefit most from cloud’s speed and scalability? What systems reach across the enterprise and bring the greatest benefits to the most users?”
Next, federal agencies must be committed to automation once they have a clear view of their inventory. For agencies, relying on manual means for cloud migration is insufficient. When adding artificial intelligence and machine learning-based technologies that enable predictability, agencies can maximize their cloud investment by seamlessly synchronizing databases and in turn, make the process faster. Finally, when migrating to the cloud, agencies need to identify the right solution for their mission needs, enabling simplicity and efficiency while remaining flexible, cost-effective, and scalable.
Moving to the cloud is a significant undertaking. To simplify the process, aside from a government-wide push for greater FedRAMP compliance, agencies should commit to organizational transparency, automation, and the right solution for their mission priorities. Only then can they maneuver past barriers and make the most out of their data.
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