How state and local agencies can jump-start cloud adoption

State and local government agencies are looking for more effective ways to deliver public services, including modernizing their IT systems to keep up with service demand. Many agencies, however, are still just starting their journeys to the cloud in earnest — assessing where to start, what’s needed and what to expect. 

While managing large migrations to the cloud may seem like a daunting task, organizations can still realize quick gains by working with specialized cloud services firms and starting with a smaller workload, says Brian Schoepfle, manager of partner solution architects at AWS in a new StateScoop podcast. 

The best opportunities for early returns on investment typically involve workloads that can be easily migrated to the cloud, whether that’s backup and disaster recovery, consolidation of remote and branch office files or storage services, he says. These types of lightweight workloads tend to deliver more immediate ROI by helping agencies strengthen essential services while building a strong foundation for adopting additional cloud services and by modernizing the way they deliver information services. 

ThunderCat Technologies CTO for Cloud Nic Perez echoed Schoepfle’s observations, stressing the importance of cloud agility and predictability. The “power of the cloud is that you only consume that cloud asset when you need it,” he says.  AWS, Thundercat Technology and DLT Solutions sponsored the podcast.

Perez and Schoepfle highlighted the critical takeaways for individuals getting started with a cloud investment strategy, including developing a strategy with the end-user in mind, beginning with a pilot program and consider working with an experienced cloud services provider to avoid costly mistakes and increase the speed of adoption.

“There’s really no compression algorithm for experience,” says Scheopfle. “So it absolutely makes sense for a customer to work with an experienced partner, who has seen projects be very successful, has seen where projects typically fall down, and provide just critical guidance that customers need to get started quickly.”

Listen to the full podcast conversation on StateScoop.com. And hear more of our latest IT coverage across the state and local government technology community by subscribing to StateScoop’s “Priorities Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and Stitcher. New episodes are released every Thursday.

Nic Perez is Chief Technology Officer for Cloud at ThunderCat Technology. He assists clients on how to adopt the public cloud technologies, advising the C-suite and engineers on the entire cloud journey from cloud vision, strategy, roadmap and business value. 

Brian Schoepfle is Manager for Partner Solution Architects at Amazon Web Services. He helps cloud partners, cloud providers and managed services companies build and develop modern cloud practices at scale. 

Learn more about how AWS, ThunderCat Technology and DLT Solutions are helping government agencies migrate to the cloud.

This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for StateScoop and underwritten by ThunderCat Technologies, Amazon Web Services and DLT Solutions.