As international institutions and organizations look to innovative technologies and applications to modernize IT systems, improve agility, and reduce costs, reviewing how the U.S. Government is tackling these challenges provides insight into not only best practices, but also the tangible benefits that accrue from implementing Enterprise IT-as-a-Service. This forward progress made by many agencies, including the United States Air Force, the United States Army, and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), is supported by a variety of IT solutions all supplied by different vendors. Managing multiple solutions from multiple vendors can create interoperability issues, which is why agencies have turned to enterprise IT-as-a-Service to streamline operations and service delivery.
Within the U.S. federal government, the military services supported by DISA have led the way, already implementing enterprise IT-as-a-Service to deliver on the mission. This model is “a shift from not just outsourcing in managing vendors, but to a model where I’m going to give it all to a vendor and they are going to do it all for me,” explained Michael Young, DOD client partner at Verizon based in Europe. He explained that the adoption of these services is a good model for other complex organizations, like NATO, as they continue their IT modernization journey.
Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Sharpy, USAF deputy chief of staff for capability development at NATO’s Allied Command Transformation, recently shared that the command is looking to acquire new technology to bolster military capabilities. “We’re not only trying to put coherence into those systems that we have, but also are trying to look at using innovation to make them cutting edge so we maintain our military edge going forward,” he said. “We don’t want to be lagging in those, because those are the big rocks that we are trying to move.”
Currently, many international organizations are reliant on legacy systems supported by a handful of vendors that are costly to run and time-consuming to maintain. “Legacy systems are often tied to restricting contracts that hinder innovation, but with enterprise IT-as-a-service, agencies get exactly what they need without the extra price tag,” Young explained.
Organizations that implement this as-a-service solution can expect flexibility, scalability, and reduced costs. “You pay for what you use instead of buying everything,” Young said. “When technology changes, so do you. There is flexibility in not just the evolution of that technology, but the possibility to move to another technology.” Moving away from legacy systems increases security and “there is something to be said about having a partner that manages security at such a high level,” said Young. For an organization like NATO that is progressing on a modernization journey, finding a partner that can offer innovative solutions, security expertise, and flexibility is needed.
IT-as-a-service not only offers increased agility and security, but helps organizations better utilize limited resources and remain innovative with flexible technology.
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