The adoption of Cloud Computing is central to the Canadian Government’s ambitions for a world class Digital Government.
They publish their Cloud adoption strategy and best practices here, providing guidance on key topics such as Data Residency Requirements. Data Sovereignty, Security and Risk Management.
The Cloud Adoption Strategy proposes increasing levels of benefit in line with the scope of outsourcing.
What should be outsourced is regulated through the classification of data security, defining levels, Protected A, B and C, and from that enabling associated services – Early adopters include Shared Services Canada.
Our exciting journey to the Cloud continues with the signing of the first two contracts for Protected B services. Welcome aboard AWS Canada and Microsoft Azure! #SSCcloud #SSCexcellenceSPC pic.twitter.com/stN82iLd3N
— Shared Services Canada (@SSC_CA) August 9, 2019
Government of Canada Right Cloud Selection Guidance
Given the diversity of the IT landscape, a one-cloud-fits-all solution will not serve all needs. The GC Right Cloud strategy enables CIOs to adopt the deployment model that best suits their business needs.
The GC Cloud Adoption Strategy puts forward a series of adoption principles for CIOs to consider when choosing and using services with the confidence that they will be maximizing the benefits of cloud, when cloud is appropriate, while ensuring the protection and privacy of Canadian’s data. The onus is on the department to demonstrate which deployment model is right for their business context.
Nova Scotia – SaaS for Business Transformation
This promotional video from SAP SuccessFactors provides an excellent example of Government adoption of the SaaS deployment model, and how it has enabled Nova Scotia’s digital transformation strategy.
Kevin Briand, Executive Director of Business Solutions, explains that the province is going through a significant digital transformation initiative.
The primary use case for this particular project is that Nova Scotia has eight school boards, each doing recruitment slightly differently. So the goal of implementing SuccessFactors is to rationalize these into a single, common approach.
This is part of the Shared Services initiative, intended to guide government’s efforts to share services across departments, select Crown corporations and the health sector, intended to realize significant savings through this large scale efficiency.
Nova Scotia’s move to the Cloud has been a measured one; their analysis identified that moving to Ariba would account for over half of the cost savings they would enjoy, in excess of $25-30 million.
Before their approach saw each individual hospital implement their own procurement practices, each buying for a different price. Standardizing on Ariba enabled them to build a single catalogue for the whole province of the best negotiated pricing. Nova Scotia has applied this consolidation and centralization across multiple procurement categories, such as AR, AP and materials management.
