“Governments worldwide are swiftly embracing cloud technology to expand their digital capabilities, enhance responsiveness, and meet stakeholder expectations. Even in emerging markets, the government sector acknowledges the potential of cloud technology in streamlining service delivery and accomplishing mission-based objectives.”
Commencing with this opening statement, a recent 12-page study, The State of Cloud in Government, 2025, by Forrester lays out the current landscape. (Note: Access to the full report requires subscription or payment.)
Presenting the report’s outcomes now, with consent from Forrester, as I discovered the results to be intriguing and the insights valuable, especially when considering the global cloud trends. Several states shifted to “cloud first” approaches a few years back, hence it is imperative to revisit and evaluate the implementations currently in practice.
CRUCIAL DISCOVERIES
Primary research conclusions related to the adoption of cloud technology in the public sector encompass the following aspects:
- Public cloud decision-makers in government entities utilize hybrid cloud in 80% of cases, while 71% engage multiple public cloud services.
- Cloud implementation within governments is expanding beyond initial strategies to encompass the migration of existing workloads. In fact, 27% of cloud decision-makers identified workload migration as their foremost initiative for the upcoming 12 months.
- Enhancing security remains a critical factor influencing government decisions to embrace public cloud services (34%).
- 29% of cloud decision-makers in governmental bodies highlight the modernization of core applications as one of the primary initiatives in the upcoming year.
- 55% of government officials directing cloud activities indicate the integration of distributed cloud-native databases in their systems, showcasing a broader application within the cloud-native ecosystem.
A DEEPER INSIGHT INTO THE STUDY
The report further elaborates on several key revelations, including the following:
- Public sector organizations maintain their strong commitment to cloud technology and its operational efficiencies. Governments have adopted various approaches to incorporate cloud technology. While some governments follow the lead of the private sector by prioritizing public cloud services, it is not the sole preference: 36% of cloud decision-makers in governmental bodies leveraging cloud technology reported using internal private clouds as their primary computing platform.
- The migration of existing workloads brings a new dimension to the utilization of public cloud services.
- The government sector emphasizes scale and capacity but prioritizes security. The enhancement of security remains a critical consideration influencing government choices to adopt public cloud (refer to Figure 2 in the Forrester report).
- Modernization stands out as a major agenda in government cloud initiatives. Striving for digital reinvention and retiring technical debt, government entities turn to modern platforms such as cloud technology to revamp core applications and fulfill contemporary requirements.
- Cloud-native practices are gaining momentum as governments elevate their cloud maturity.
- Government bodies value the external support for cloud-native development and operations. International systems integrators and managed service providers play a pivotal role in government cloud initiatives. These partners bridge critical skill gaps through education and training programs and deliver managed services supporting governance and operations. Some partners collaborate with leadership to formulate cloud strategies, while others contribute to implementation and solutioning for cloud-native development objectives.
- The distinct requirements of individual nations drive the establishment of industry clouds specific to the public sector. Certain cloud service providers actively market dedicated clouds tailored to unique governmental needs concerning regulations and portability, under public scrutiny. For instance, Microsoft’s Azure for US Government and Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty cater to data residency, sovereign controls, and other government-friendly solutions. AWS and Oracle offer cloud zones compliant with U.S. regulations. Google Cloud takes a different route by certifying segments of its public cloud for government use, ensuring uniform user experiences across commercial and public-sector areas. China perceives government clouds as a strategic national objective enhancing horizontal collaboration, citizen services, and social governance. The adoption of Chinese government clouds spans all governmental levels, including districts, cities, provinces, and central government.
PERSPECTIVES ON FEDERAL CLOUD SERVICES
The following video from Fed Gov Today illustrates “Cloud, Cyber & AI: Accelerating Federal IT Transformation,” featuring Richard Crowe from Booz Allen, among others.
In the interview, Crowe points out that the federal government has been transitioning to cloud technology for around a decade under various administrations, with discernible trends emerging.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS ON STATE TRENDS
For individuals keen on understanding how the adoption of public, private, and hybrid clouds can be transformational for enterprises, the following video from CloudWorld 2024 offers insights:
CONCLUDING REMARKS
My involvement in the path to cloud adoption commenced over 15 years ago during my tenure as the Michigan chief technology officer. Reflecting on the progress made and the persisting issues yet to be fully resolved is intriguing. Here are several blog examples that present various perspectives:
2010: How Safe Is Cloud Computing?
2017: 7 Tips for Securely Moving Data to the Cloud
2020: State CIOs Lead Digital Transformation During the Pandemic
Note that recent articles on cloud-related topics often describe data migrations to and from diverse cloud computing environments (public, private, hybrid, etc.) as “digital transformation”.
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