Cloud first to cloud smart

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cloud smart program focuses on providing practical cloud implementation support for three pillars: security, procurement, and workforce. Essentially, it seeks to implement strategies and tactics that will go beyond a mere technology upgrade to truly modernize public agencies’ IT infrastructures.

A guide for digital growth in the public sector

By Charles Kozel and Alex Rodriguez

Image of professionals working in a government setting.

The public sector's journey from cloud first to cloud smart

The COVID-19 pandemic, among other major global events, has only amplified the focus on digitalization in the public sector. Along with shrinking budgets and ongoing economic concerns, there’s a heightened urgency for federal agencies to increase their efficiency to reduce costs and respond more nimbly when the unexpected happens. When positioned strategically, a move to the cloud builds agencies’ capacities for flexibility and innovation, leading to reduced costs and greater efficiency.

This guide is intended to be a road map for agencies as they continue implementing and refining their cloud smart plans.

A cloud smart maturity model

While some agencies have taken the cloud smart guidance and run with it, others are in earlier stages of adoption. The best actions and next steps for your team will depend on where you fall within that maturity model.

Our maturity model involves four phases: reacting, improving, optimizing, and leading. Each phase is critically important and represents a step along a strategic cloud smart journey.

Regardless of where you are on this maturity model, to get to your next phase, there are small steps you can take. The evolution to cloud smart doesn’t have to be a major undertaking; it can be broken down into smaller milestones that are more easily achievable.

Reacting

Improving

Optimizing

Leading

Keep reading to identify your agency’s current status and get our advice for navigating the road ahead.

Reacting

Improving

Optimizing

Leading

Phase 1:

Reacting

Focus Areas:

Strategy

Compliance

Vendor selection

Funding

Governance

In the first phase of the cloud smart maturity model, agencies are typically just getting started on their moves to the cloud. There’s a lot of foundational work that happens during this phase, making it an especially critical time that requires strategic planning, strong leadership, and clear direction.

Difficulty choosing the right vendor Choosing initiative leadership with the right skills Lack of internal expertise Trouble getting started

Primary challenges and potential pitfalls

How does this initiative align to our agency-level strategy? Which vendor is right for us? Who will lead this initiative internally? Do we need to solicit external expertise to be successful? How can we break our plan down into smaller, achievable steps?

Questions for leaders

Select vendor Establish a governance model Finalize digital strategy

Key actions

Pro Tip

Accelerate maturity

Consider starting with a pilot group as a way to get started with your cloud smart journey. This gives you an opportunity to make mistakes and learn along the way. It’s better to move forward than to maintain the status quo. Plus, with technology advancements, it’s easy to quickly pivot as you learn from your pilot.

Establish communication protocols for all stakeholders Define objectives and success metrics

Key actions

How can I prepare my teams for this transition? Who are my key stakeholders? How can I develop a robust communication strategy to keep stakeholders informed? Have we set expectations for the project and our teams?

Questions for leaders

Agency-level resistance to change Talent gaps Communication gaps Evolving requirements Maintaining stakeholder engagement over the life cycle of the project

Primary challenges and potential pitfalls

In the second phase of the cloud smart maturity model, implementation is underway. Agencies should focus heavily on stakeholder engagement and communication. Now that the foundational elements of the strategy are in motion, it’s essential to set your teams up for success by equipping them with the information, knowledge, and tools they need to thrive in this new environment.

Accelerate maturity

Pro Tip

Communication

Leader and employee development

Change management

Solution implementation

Focus Areas:

Improving

Phase 2:

Don’t underestimate the value of change management. Many agencies embed change management into the larger project rather than investing in it as a separate objective. Leaders often assume this area is being covered by the vendor or other teams. But it needs to be a very explicit part of the strategy and execution.

Establish reporting mechanisms Standardize process improvement Automate manual processes Review progress toward goals Identify opportunities for further refinement in the future

Key actions

Which processes need to be modernized? Where are the inefficiencies in our operations? What data do we need to be able to refine? How can key processes be automated?

How can I develop a robust communication strategy to keep stakeholders informed?

Have we set expectations for the project and our teams?

Questions for leaders

Adherence to outdated processes Lack of user adoption Lack of standardization

Primary challenges and potential pitfalls

Now that your cloud solution has been implemented, it’s time to optimize your operations for this new digital ecosystem. An intentional focus on the modernization and improvement of existing processes will be key. Agencies that dig in and go beyond the implementation phase will uncover significant cost and time savings.

Accelerate maturity

Pro Tip

Reporting

Operational efficiencies

Automation

Process improvement

Focus Areas:

Define a go-forward plan for maintaining the cloud strategy as technology evolves.

Optimizing

Phase 3:

Keep the focus on innovation Incorporate cloud smart into agency-level strategic planning efforts Build the internal structures needed to consistently evaluate progress toward cloud smart objectives

Key actions

How can we think outside the box? What would we like to see in the future (even if it seems impossible now)? What strategies have worked for us that other agencies may want to adopt? What internal structures are needed to keep continued focus on our cloud smart objectives?

Questions for leaders

Complacency Competing priorities Funding concerns Keeping up with evolving technologies

Primary challenges and potential pitfalls

At the last phase, your agency has become cloud smart. But this phase is not the time to stop pushing. It’s in this final phase that you will begin to innovate and blaze new paths for other agencies to follow. You’re a seasoned practitioner, and other agencies will be looking to you for guidance and education.

Accelerate maturity

Pro Tip

Education

Strategic planning

Innovation

Focus Areas:

This is not a one-and-done project. And it’s not linear. Agencies that are truly cloud smart are agile in their approaches and continue to revisit and revise their strategies as conditions change.

Leading

Phase 4:

Attributes of cloud smart federal agencies

Automated

Efficient

Predictive

Flexible

Sustainable

Develop and distribute an agency wide change management plan

Next steps

The public sector’s history with the cloud is long and involved. Where many commercial industries have already sped through this maturity model, many federal agencies, with their hierarchies and red tape, are still in the midst of the transition.

Identifying where you stand on the journey is the first step to understanding how to accelerate your momentum, keep up with mandates, maximize current resource value, and shift to a modernization mindset.

security

procurement

workforce

Cloud Smart

Develop and distribute an agency wide change management plan Establish communication protocols for all stakeholders Define objectives and success metrics

Key actions

Next steps