Iowa projects half-billion-dollar savings through cloud migration and IT consolidation

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday announced a sweeping overhaul of the state’s technology infrastructure, partnering with Amazon Web Services and public sector IT vendor Cognizant Government Solutions in a move officials say will save more than $525 million over the next decade.

Under the plan, the state will migrate its executive branch data from physical servers and multiple state-operated data centers to AWS’s cloud.

Cognizant Government Solutions will take over day-to-day IT operations, including managing networks and servers, providing technical support to agencies and handling employee help desk services. In addition, approximately 200 state IT employees are expected to receive job offers from the company later this month as the state transitions to the new managed services model, which will begin Aug. 3.

Reynolds said the initiative marks the next phase of Iowa’s yearslong effort to consolidate and centralize technology operations across state government.

“This change is an investment in security, agility, and long‑term value for Iowans. By moving to the cloud, we can protect data more effectively, improve service reliability, and respond quickly as public needs evolve,” Reynolds said in a Tuesday press release. “This transition also allows us to adopt a more flexible business model—shifting from large, upfront capital expenditures to scalable services that help the state operate more sustainably for the future.” 

State officials said the shift will also improve cybersecurity, increase operational flexibility and reduce the costs associated with maintaining aging infrastructure.

“By moving to a single, secure cloud system, we’re taking our cybersecurity to the next level while reducing the costs that come with maintaining aging technology,” Iowa Department of Management Director Kraig Paulsen said in a statement. “This approach helps us save taxpayer dollars, protect state data, and create a more reliable technology foundation that can grow with the needs of the state.”

The announcement builds on Iowa’s consolidation of IT resources across its executive agencies in recent years.

In 2025, the state completed a major IT reorganization that combined 20 agency technology shops into a single enterprise organization, a move Iowa CIO Matt Behrens previously told StateScoop was expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in annual savings.