Government Cloud Procurement

An essential, in-depth analysis of the key legal issues that governments face when adopting cloud computing services.

The Federal Government's current information technology environment is characterized by low asset utilization, a fragmented demand for resources, duplicative systems, environments which are difficult to manage, and long procurement lead times. These inefficiencies negatively impact the Federal Government's ability to serve the American public.

As governments search for the best ways to restyle their services, the E-Government field continues to attract interest from public administrators, politicians, academics, and citizens. As a result, new topics such as e-procurement have become core factors in public sector development by providing way to better serve citizens and businesses in our digital economy. E-Procurement Management for Successful Electronic Government Systemsenhances the understanding and collaboration in e-government and the role of information technologies in supporting the development of improved services for citizens. By analyzing recent developments in theory and practices as well as providing fresh ideas and research, this reference source aims to bridge the gap between academia, industry, and government.

The Federal Government's current Information Technology (IT) environment is characterized by low asset utilization, a fragmented demand for resources, duplicative systems, environments which are difficult to manage, and long procurement lead times. These inefficiencies negatively impact the Federal Government's ability to serve the American public.Cloud computing has the potential to play a major part in addressing these inefficiencies and improving government service delivery. The cloud computing model can significantly help agencies grappling with the need to provide highly reliable, innovative services quickly despite resource constraints.

Central government spent a total of around £45 billion on buying goods and services in 2011-12, including an estimated £6.9 billion on ICT. Since 2010, the government has introduced a range of procurement reforms designed to save money. These include centralising the procurement of goods and services bought by all departments, such as energy and travel. All ICT spending over £5million must be approved by the Cabinet Office, and a programme to develop ICT infrastructure which can be shared across government organisations has been developed. These reforms are beginning to have an impact: the proportion of spending that goes through central contracts has increased steadily; the ICT initiatives have resulted in some savings; and there are signs that departments are starting to think more intelligently about why and how they use ICT. But the accountability arrangements for centralised procurement remain a barrier; the centre manages the contracts yet departments remain liable for their own spending decisions so they are reluctant to cede authority to the centre. Management information on spending and savings is incomplete, so departments do not always trust the figures on savings claimed. These gaps in accountability and data make it harder to make the case for procurement across central government and in the wider public sector to be centralised. The commitment to localism seems to be at odds with buying through central contracts, and government's desire to give more government business to small firms does not appear to have changed the way large procurements are managed.

The Federal Government's current information technology environment is characterized by low asset utilization, a fragmented demand for resources, duplicative systems, environments which are difficult to manage, and long procurement lead times. These inefficiencies negatively impact the Federal Government's ability to serve the American public.

The federal government is expected to spend $75 billion this year on IT projects, with a significant part of that money earmarked for migrating services and programs to cloud computing. Therefore, the publication of this book on cloud computing contracting for government could not be timelier.This comprehensive, expert book uses an easy-to-understand, easy-to-follow six-step process that guides you through the complete contract lifecycle. It steers you through all the cloud service and deployment models available, highlighting the benefits and downsides of each. Discussed in detail are critical issues, such as security, vendor lock-in, and legal and regulatory obligations. The book discusses how to identify and determine your needs in order to develop a business use case. It defines all the potential procurement vehicles and processes and how to assess them. There is guidance on setting up an acquisition team, developing performance-based work statements and how to measure and manage performance.Included in this book is a 137 element checklist of contract terms that should be considered for your cloud contract solution. This 10-page check list is a treasure trove of critical information for any cloud program manager and/or contracting manager.All of this vital information has to be gathered, understood and analyzed before the contract can be agreed. upon. How to build and finalize the right contract constitutes a large part of this book, with insight on all the clauses used by vendors - all the things you should know but they are unlikely to tell you! There are also samples to show how potentially harmful vendor clauses can be rephrased to your advantage.The final step discusses managing the contract - how to ensure compliance, conduct audits and what to do in the event of data breaches or worse. Each step is accompanied by case studies, mistakes made and lessons learned, best practices and checklists to ensure you stay on the right path. While the book itself is comprehensive, there is also a dedicated website for people purchasing the book, which has much more reference information available and which will be kept updated.Cloud computing brings a host of new challenges to those implementing it. It is no longer just the task of the IT manager to write the contract. Many other departments need to be involved from HR and security, to legal and financial and, as a result, many decisions taken to the highest level. Because of the complexities and diverse issues that cloud contracting encompasses, this is a must-have handbook for all those who need to succeed with cloud contracting. For more information, visit www.GTIBookstore.com.