NASCIO 2018: Cloud Technology? Easier Said Than Done

November 1, 2018

Categories: Thought Leadership

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Every year, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) holds a conference to meet with representatives from federal, municipal, international government and non-profit organizations. Chief Information Officers (CIO) from all 50 states discuss industry challenges, best practices, and upcoming policy initiatives.

CNSI representatives heard first hand about the key issues facing CIOS, which include cybersecurity concerns, cloud adoption, impactful leadership, and up-and-coming technology.

One particularly noteworthy event was the release of the 2018 State CIO as Communicator: The Evolving Nature of Technology Leadership report, which focused–in part–on state cloud adoption. It is worth noting that 22 percent of officials have no plan in place.

According to the survey, cloud implementation has shown to be more difficult because of the work required to train employees on the new systems. An anonymous CIO respondent said in the survey that integrating the cloud system “Sounds great, and it is, but one thing it is not, is easy! There is so much more work involved than we anticipated.” As technology advances, states without a cloud strategy are missing out on significant savings, increased security, and other advantages.

The State of Michigan and CNSI understood the potential beyond cloud technology long before it was an industry buzz word, with their 2016 NASCIO award-winning Medicaid As A Service program. One of the top areas of focus as this initiative launched was governance. This means identifying clear roles, creating strong contract relationships, and leveraging pre-existing resources.  So, yes. Cloud implementations require work, but they can be done (and done well).

We will watch closely as state CIOs move forward with cloud adoption in other areas of government and be excited to see what advancements will be made before the next NASCIO conference.