Phl gov’t agencies seen to adopt cloud computing

MANILA, Philippines - This year, it’s the government’s turn to jump into the “cloud.”

DataOne Asia, a leading independent provider of IT services in the Philippines, said more government agencies will be ready to foray into the cloud for their computing needs in 2013.

Considered as one of the cloud computing pioneers in the country, DataOne Asia launched in 2012 a cloud-based business productivity and communications service for enterprises that comes with expert, round-the-clock support.

Last year, the Philippines was established as a promising market for cloud computing when many enterprises, as well as small and medium businesses (SMBs), have learned to adopt the technology in their operations.

President Aquino also recently showed his optimism for a government cloud computing project that will revolutionize childhood education in the country.

Other government officials have also affirmed that outsourcing and cloud technology will be further encouraged this year.

DataOne Asia president and CEO Cyril Rocke said the government adoption of cloud computing technology will be one of the biggest trends in 2013. He cited several compelling reasons for saying so.

“First, government agencies intend to avoid capital expenditures whenever possible, since they cause a long, tedious and sometime risky process. All capital expenditures are subject to Republic Act 9184,” Rocke said. “Because the process is long, there is a tendency to ‘over-procure’ which results in unnecessary costs.”

Rocke believes that the adoption of cloud computing will downsize the government’s lengthy process of acquiring resources and services, and cut costs.

Aside from this, cloud computing lets government agencies deal with reliable IT service providers, which allows them to save more time, man-hours, skills development and troubleshooting.

The subscription-based procurement of highly customizable cloud computing services also provides numerous benefits to government agencies.

“They can subscribe for one month or several years, and the resources they procure can be increased or decreased on demand. Therefore, the risk of making wrong decisions is eliminated. If the wrong resources or application is procured, the engagement can be easily terminated,” Rocke said.

Another compelling reason Rocke cited that will enable government agencies to turn into cloud computing is that subscription-based services save costs.

“It is generally observed that about 90 percent of computer resources are never used. Eventually, they become obsolete, and will be simply replaced later without having been ever used. This is an enormous waste of public funds,” Rocke said.

Aside from being reasonably priced, subscription-based cloud computing services are also customizable, which helps eliminate the need to purchase more computer hardware or software for upgrades.

Rocke also believes that the adoption of cloud computing services will greatly improve government services and prevent security issues.

“In addition, working hours in government agencies generally last from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and this exposes the government’s IT infrastructure to security and service availability issues beyond normal working hours,” he said.

“Even netizens nowadays expect online government services to be available 24/7. With cloud  computing, the government can simultaneously address these issues in access, availability, security and performance over time,” he added.

Finally, Rocke said the considerably low pricing of cloud computing services can help attract government agencies to adopt them quickly.

“Cloud providers offer very transparent pricing and guaranteed performance through a service level agreement,” he said. “All these factors significantly reduce cost and improve customer satisfaction.”

He believes that the bright future of cloud computing in the Philippines in 2013 offers a lot of long-term benefits for the government.

“Through cloud computing, the government will be able to introduce new services faster. Costs will be reduced and performance will be increased. Experimentation on a small scale will be possible, with low risk and low costs, before launching on a large scale. All of these will help the government be more innovative with e-government services,” he said.