Undergirding the major trends of federal IT modernization is the government’s desire to move beyond legacy systems and ways of delivering services and doing business.
Yet government often struggles to achieve Digital Transformation, for a variety of of reasons. “The Digital Transformation Insight Report” by CDW found IT professionals face a range of hurdles on the road to change. According to the report, 31 percent of respondents say a lack of budget inhibits progress, and an equal percentage say concerns about privacy and security stymie their transformation efforts. Meanwhile, 25 percent point to change management as a sticking point
Other obstacles include time-consuming data migration (29 percent), technology/network upgrades (28 percent) and legacy infrastructure and infrastructure complexity (30 percent).
How can agencies effectively address and overcome these barriers?
When it comes to resource issues, some say the government CIO’s best strategy is to fire up digital transformation with a few quick wins. “You have to find the low-hanging fruit, deliver results quickly and show the value in managing IT differently,” says Dave McClure, principal director of Accenture Federal Services.
By tackling projects that offer a financial return or that markedly improve business processes, IT leaders can shift the budget needle. “If you can show that technology can make a difference, that can then free up resources going forward,” McClure says.
When it comes to privacy and security, government has cause to be concerned. Taxpayer money, personal information and vital records are all bound up in government systems, which also may be subject to regulatory constraints around privacy.
Yet some degree of the worry is overstated, analysts say, noting that while government IT leaders should take privacy and security seriously, they should not let those concerns derail transformation efforts.
“It’s probably less of an issue than people make it out to be,” says Shawn McCarthy, Research Director of IDC Government Insights. After all, he says, agencies should know how to manage data security. “You build a highly secure system and you set your permissions for who can access information. You encrypt data at rest and data in motion. Then privacy becomes less of an issue,” he says.
