Begin the Journey to Optimizing Government Data Centers
Modernizing IT can help state and local governments reduce their total cost of ownership. It’s true that upgrades typically come with a significant upfront expenditure, but modernization and consolidation efforts introduce economies of scale that can lower unit costs within the data center.
To formulate an effective strategy to prevent issues, agencies must take into consideration the following factors:
- Strategic financing. Budget constraints must be considered when creating a strategy for data center optimization. Teams need to know how funding is received by their department and whether a capital expense model or an operational expense model is the right one for their agency.
- Strategic planning. Working with a trusted third-party partner can help state and local agencies formulate a well-rounded strategy. A third party can provide not only expertise but also the right partnership to overcome any challenge.
- Managed services. Agencies must consider the upkeep required by their new data center equipment and plan to manage and maintain it. Using third-party solutions such as Data Center as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service or Backup as a Service can alleviate the pressure on overburdened IT staff.
Taking these factors into account can help an agency develop a strategic roadmap for integrating its legacy infrastructure with modern IT systems.
REVIEW: How agencies can navigate the digital transformation process.
Modernize Infrastructure to Boost Citizen Services
Citizens increasingly expect their governments to provide a wide array of digital services, and modernized IT infrastructure is key to delivering these experiences. For instance, CDW helped to upgrade public data center infrastructure in Florida to support a website that the state created to better serve residents affected by natural disasters.
User-facing applications such as the one Florida deployed are valuable to governments and citizens, but they will not perform well over time unless they are supported by modernized back-end technology.
Simply put: To best serve citizens, governments must modernize their IT environments.
