More than Two-Thirds of Federal Employees Require Cloud Access for Work, According to Survey from Government Business Council and Deloitte

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Government Business Council (GBC), Government Executive Media Group's research division, in collaboration with Deloitte released today the results of a survey assessing the federal government's progress in data reorganization. Key findings show federal employees' reliance on the cloud continues to grow at a rapid pace, but oversight over migration and consolidation remains spotty.

Several federal government agencies have been pursuing data reorganization with cloud solutions provided by government contractors. To understand the primary challenges facing cloud migration, Deloitte commissioned GBC's "Channeling the Cloud" survey.

"We were excited to tackle this topic with Deloitte again, given the fast-paced developments in cloud technology over the past year," said Nicholas McClusky, director of research & strategic insights at Government Executive Media Group.

Over 41 percent of respondents indicate progress in moving their agency's applications to the cloud, with an additional 9 percent planning to migrate soon. While more federal agencies are moving to the cloud, top incentives for cloud migration continue to be cost savings (30 percent), organizational efficiency (28 percent), and data sharing (28 percent). The ability of cloud offerings to facilitate more modern technology, such as SaaS and mobile, are largely unknown by respondents (68 percent and 57 percent, respectively).

More than 69 percent of respondents require cloud access to produce successful work. However, 24 percent cite dissatisfaction with their agency's cloud offerings, and awareness of cloud-first and data center consolidation initiatives remains low: 59 percent of respondents say their organization's cloud governance is nonexistent or ineffective, and 71 percent of respondents claim to have used IT applications that fall outside the toolkit of approved applications provided by their organization. Over 35 percent say these practices occur on a frequent to occasional basis.

"How the cloud is used ? governance, tech enablement, and organizational factors ? will determine the success of cloud adoption," said Doug Bourgeois, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and federal cloud leader. "The power of the cloud to advance the federal government's use of new technology seems widely unknown. While cost and efficiency benefits are well understood, these other cloud capabilities can help the federal government adopt next generation tech much faster ? and unleash the tremendous untapped potential of cloud investments."

GBC randomly sampled 536 federal employees for this survey, including those at the GS/GM 11-15 pay levels and members of the Senior Executive Service. Respondents include representatives from at least 29 federal and defense agencies.

This is the second cloud survey by Deloitte and GBC on federal government cloud-use trends.

The full report from "Channeling the Cloud" is available here.

About Government Business Council:
Government Business Council (GBC), the research arm of Government Executive Media Group, is dedicated to advancing the business of government through analysis and insight. GBC partners with industry to share best practices with top government decision makers, understanding the deep value inherent in industry's experience engaging and supporting federal agencies.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including more than 85 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to make an impact that matters ? delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities  to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. 

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SOURCE Deloitte