Transforming Government Through Next Generation Technology

Governments everywhere are struggling with unprecedented challenges. They're expected to reignite a global economy in free-fall, while grappling with crumbling infrastructure, aging populations, declining quality in education and healthcare -- plus a heightened social concern about preserving the environment.

All in a budgetary environment of declining tax revenues.

Like the private sector, governments are now turning to technology to help them to improve both the delivery of government services and to promote overall economic growth.

Building 21st Century Economies
Like the waterways and highways of previous centuries, government leaders recognize they must create essential tech infrastructure to fuel innovation-led growth and prosperity. High-speed broadband is seen as a catalyst for encouraging economic development. However, meaningful services are required to stimulate demand.

For example, Germany has committed €4.6 Billion to install Telepresence capabilities throughout its schools -- to improve the quality of its education system, while reducing costs.

Similar to the access of electricity and the telephone, governments recognize the social equity of providing broadband access to everyone. Thereby using technology to improve the quality of inner-city schools, encourage more telecommuting and increase the productivity of rural economies.

Delivering 21st Century Public Services
There are significant opportunities for progressive governments to:

• Reduce Costs of Delivery – delivering online services, collaboration tools, and video, not only lowers costs to serve but enhances the overall customer experience.
• Empower Citizens – employing Web 2.0 capabilities, such as collaboration and social networking, allows citizens to more easily interact with their government.
• Improve Levels of Service – Kiosks, Telepresence units, or VoIP enabled call centers for 311 calls, raises service levels and the overall experience.
  

Creating 21st Century Governments
Both taxpayers and public servants now recognize that the business of government must evolve, and that technology plays a critical role in this transformation. Likewise, technology providers can choose to partner with governments on this journey.

Research by Cisco IBSG (the company's strategic consulting arm) reveals that the public sector has a number of unique requirements:

• Funding Models – providers must find creative new ways to pay for the new technologies, such as managed services and public-private partnerships.
• Skill Shortages – hiring freezes and lack of skills, means that governments require significant help in design, implementation and management of technology.
• Integrated Solutions – across multiple departments and levels of government, but also with not-for-profits, agencies, multiple partners and other parties.
• Innovation – the private sector can proactively bring new and innovative solutions to legacy problems -- seeding the transformation.
  

Managed Services offers a proven way to help transform government for the 21st Century. However, service providers will need to recognize the unique needs of the public sector and to partner with the champions of progress, to address their most pressing challenges.

About the author: Stuart Taylor is a Director in Cisco IBSG. Stuart leads thought leadership and engagements with key Service Providers in managed services. He has over 15 years of experience focused on strategy, corporate development, business unit strategy, M&A and operational improvement with large mobile and wireline operators and high technology clients.

Non-Profit Gains Budget Relief for Telecom Needs

Non-profit organizations share many of the same communication challenges as other businesses. Their budgetary pressures can also create some unique situations, especially when you consider the scale of their ongoing outreach.

The Greater Illinois Chapter is one of over seventy Alzheimer's Association chapters serving communities across the United States. Currently, the Illinois chapter serves over half a million residents affected by the disease.

They're active in more than 60 counties in Illinois. Since 1980, the non-profit organization has provided information and support, as well as family services, for those affected by the disease. Staying connected to their numerous constituents, and the overall community, is essential.

Streamlining Communication Processes
As the chapter grew, they needed big business telecom functionality -- only on a non-profit budget. In the preparation to move into a new facility, the decision was made to replace their phone system. Managing six office sites, they needed a solution that would lessen the work load on their already strained small technical staff.

After evaluating several options for a voice and data network, the Alzheimer's Association selected Geckotech's SimpleVoIP phone service for its proven ability to deliver a reliable and highly flexible solution.

By utilizing a fully hosted service, the organization has gained additional functionality and operational efficiencies not available with their prior, and less capable, telephone system.

Communication Simplicity, by Design
By connecting all office locations over a common network, employees can use simplified four-digit dialing between locations. This inherent feature of the hosted solution has greatly reduced operating costs, by eliminating the expense of intra-company toll charges.

Geckotech's VoIP phones can be configured for hoteling (shared use), which is especially beneficial for volunteers who work in the office on a flexible schedule. Other features have enhanced ease of use -- such as an Automated Attendant that directs incoming callers to the correct department, call forwarding to mobile phones, and voicemail notification via email.

Resulting benefits from the changeover include a dedicated number and voicemail for the Special Events group, improved routing of incoming calls, free adds/moves/changes and access to a 24x7 technical support team at Geckotech.

Savvy Budgeting in a Tight Economy
These are trying times for non-profit organizations. However, meaningful budget relief -- and improved operational efficiency -- is possible for those organizations that make informed business technology decisions that are based upon a complete financial analysis of the alternatives.

The Alzheimer’s Association recognized a great return on investment with Geckotech's Hosted VoIP Phone service and their IT department has since enjoyed time spent on more pertinent projects, rather than babysitting the phone system.

Managed Services for Every Type of Organization

Do you believe that the growth of managed services adoption will have little impact in the government sector, or other non-profit organizations? Think again.

Let's consider the facts. Clearly, all organizations benefit from improving their processes.

Government Insights, a global independent research and advisory firm, released a report focusing on Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and their use in managing the delivery of IT and network services.

As IT and network technology are embedded further into business processes, the apparent need for productive cross-organizational partnerships becomes evident. The state of these Business Technology partnerships can be either an enabler or an inhibitor -- when negotiating an SLA.

Demand for Service Level Agreements
Organizations may develop SLAs with internal IT staff and/or with external IT service providers. In both cases they set guidelines and minimum standards for the delivery of IT services to the end-user community.

Jan Duffy, research director, Government Insights, said "SLAs should be beneficial to the IT/business partnership, contributing to transparency and to developing objectives that are achievable. Given the large number of relationships and alliances involved in modern IT, governments can benefit substantially from developing expertise in preparing and maintaining SLAs."

As we've stated previously on this forum, relevant metrics and SLAs are a key ingredient of most managed service provider offerings, and the associated inherent benefit of an out-tasked solution.

According to the Government Insights market assessment, demands are increasing for internal IT departments to provide a combination of "invisibility and level of responsiveness" that is considered a hallmark of the seasoned managed service provider.

Imperative for Improved Accountability
To meet this strategic imperative, many IT leaders have moved their organizations toward a service delivery model. Translation: this means that the performance of IT is being judged based upon the way it is valued by the end-user community -- and not by internal IT indicators.

Government Insights describes the main characteristics of developing successful service level agreements for use in managing relationships between public sector organizations and their internal IT departments and/or with external IT providers.

As a result of their analysis, they recommend that public sector organizations -- including central, regional and local -- acquire competencies that will enable them to:

• Define, measure, and continuously improve the services that IT delivers.
• Continuously monitor user expectations and satisfaction, and provide timely education.
• Deliver IT services aligned with the needs and priorities of current and future mandates.
  

A managed service provider can enable a government, or other not-for-profit, entity to select and implement business technology to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of service performance that's delivered to their constituents. The need for on-demand service transcends all sectors of the marketplace.