The Federal Response to Cloud, DevSecOps and AI

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The Federal Response

to Cloud, DevSecOps and AI:

An SAIC-Sponsored Survey

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SAIC partnered with Market Connections, a portfolio platform of GovExec, to survey 375 federal government IT and business influencers and decision-makers from across defense and civilian agencies on the current status, challenges and success in cloud, DevSecOps and AI adoption. This research provides insights into the federal government's perspective on modern technologies, helping solution providers better understand agencies' technology challenges and align with their needs.

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Agency Multi-Cloud Journeys ARe Well Underway

Agencies are realizing the benefits and value-add of cloud services, such as greater mission effectiveness and edge capabilities. However, as they shift to cloud services, a few challenges emerge. Insufficient budgeting and a lack of forecasting are two of the financial issues that agencies encounter when using cloud services.

Many government agencies are embarking on their modernization journeys and embracing multi-cloud. Seven out of 10 are using two or more cloud service providers.

Most popular ways federal agencies are managing their cloud services

Governance and compliance

80%

Cloud management platform

62%

Automation

41%

Insufficient budgeting

48%

Lack of forecasting

47%

Multiple bills in disparate formats

43%

Top financial issues agencies experience from cloud service consumption

70% use two or more cloud service providers.

DevSecOps Is Popular, But Integration Is Difficult

Government agencies are embracing the advantages that DevSecOps tools and techniques provide, such as shortening development cycles and keeping pace with innovation. In fact, 90% of federal employees are somewhere in the process of implementing DevSecOps.

While many are in the process of adopting DevSecOps, tool integration and determining whether to buy or build their tool stacks are the top two hurdles agencies face.

Tool integration

54%

Buy versus build

42%

Challenges to implementing DevSecOps tools

90% are somewhere in the process of implementing DevSecOps.

Policy and governance

57%

Talent shortage

45%

Lack of technical infrastructure

43%

Top barriers to implementing AI

AI Adoption Is Still Far Behind

Only 18% believe AI is "very" likely to be adopted in the next year.

Although AI is being touted throughout the surveyed agencies, fewer than one in five believes it is "very" likely to be deployed in the next year. A full third do not feel that their agencies' data environments are ready, and nearly four in 10 do not believe their agencies' policies are mature enough to support AI implementation. Government agencies lag behind the rest of the market in AI use. Policy and governance issues, a shortage of talent, and a lack of technology infrastructure make it difficult for government employees to fully embrace AI adoption.

A Few Takeaways from the Survey

• Continue to embrace multi-cloud

Adopting more than one cloud service provider allows you to take advantage of the innovations coming from various providers and ensures you have the right tools for your mission.

• Choose the cloud management services that fit your agency

Using a cloud management platform makes the process of managing the cloud more uniform and helps with security, compliance and automation.

• Introduce AI gradually

Integrating AI at a lower task level, such as assisting with manual or tedious processes, demonstrates benefit and introduces the workforce to AI in a more approachable manner.

• Augment human intelligence with AI

AI is good at data mining and processing. Humans are much better at nuance and understanding a larger picture of success, so it is imperative that they remain in the loop heading into the future.

• Minimize the impact on production with DevSecOps

Make minor, regular production modifications via DevSecOps. Changes are then less disruptive, easier to understand and much simpler to trace and pull out of production when issues occur.

• Select a DevSecOps tool option that works best for you

Look at pre-built or demonstrated stack choices if you're feeling overwhelmed by tool options, resource skill challenges and ongoing maintenance needs.

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Agencies support multi-cloud use but have challenges with DevSecOps and AI integration