The UK public sector is warming to cloud

A recent survey of over 600 UK decision makers suggests over three quarters (85 per cent) of UK public sector employees are using some form of public cloud services.

The VMware-sponsored research sheds some light on adoption drivers, with cost savings looking like the most frequently cited. More than a third of respondents (34 per cent) said affordability was the main reason for choosing to buy cloud services in their department, followed by ease of use (23 per cent).

“The findings from this research are very positive for the public sector. Line of businesses are using public cloud services to drive efficiencies across the organisation – both for employees to access data inside the organisation, and to speed the delivery of citizen-focused services, for example passport applications, that fluctuate at times throughout the year,” said Andy Tait, head of public sector strategy, VMware.

While cloud services aren’t always cheaper than their legacy alternatives it is perhaps unsurprising that affordability is one of the leading drivers of cloud uptake in the public sector given increased budgetary pressure and savings requirements being placed on departments.

Still, the research highlights a growing IT security issue. The survey results show just under two-thirds of (60 per cent) of public sector respondents use some form of public cloud services, whether offered by IT or not.

“In order for the UK public sector to drive efficiencies in a secure, flexible, agile and compliant manner, business users need to look at embracing a hybrid cloud strategy that can provide portability of workloads, one set of management tools and deliver services such as disaster recovery and built in security – without the cost of having to investing in unnecessary resources and tools,” Tait said.