Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director, IT, Asia-Pacific, Ovum

Many governments are implementing cloud services portals – “cloud stores” – to encourage cloud services adoption and provide “trusted” shopping experiences for agencies. The decision by the US government to close its apps.gov portal raises interesting questions about the usefulness of these portals. Ovum’s view is that the focus of government cloud strategy should be on encouraging organizational learning in agencies about why, how, when, and where to buy cloud services.

The relative immaturity and fast pace of evolution of the cloud services market mean that buyers need astute shopping skills, but these are only developed through hands-on experience and the sharing of tips and advice among fellow shoppers. Accelerating the development of intelligent buying behaviors at an agency level will be a lower-risk path than relying on centralized government cloud shops in which services of uncertain quality are sold by shop …