Cloud based services

In April 2015, Dr Stephen Grey of Broadleaf was part of a panel with Landell, procurement and probity experts, and DLA Piper, a global law firm, that invited public sector staff to discuss some of the key procurement issues associated with utilising cloud-based services. The discussion was framed by presentations from two senior public service personnel with direct experience of the use of cloud-based services in the Victorian Public Service: Grantly Mailes, Special Adviser to the Department of Premier and Cabinet; and Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Director Digital Services and CIO at Department of Health and Human Services.

About two-thirds of the sixty attendees completed feedback questionnaires. A summary of their responses shows that:

  • The advent of cloud-based IT service provision is seen as largely positive

  • Where there are concerns, they are focused on compliance rather than on financial or technical aspects of cloud-based services

  • Respondents are less clear where benefits are expected to be derived although flexibility does seem to be an area of interest.

A report on the participants' responses describing how they feel about the rise of cloud-based services, where their concerns lie and what benefits they anticipate, can be downloaded here.

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