The next phase in public sector digital transformation
Why (and how to) get ready for transformation
Digital transformation is no longer on the horizon. It’s here, it’s happening, and it’s changing the way public sector organisations deliver services to citizens and communities.
Here’s a snapshot of how far the UK public sector has come in the past few years:
- Around 1,700 separate websites have been brought under one umbrella – gov.uk – which saved taxpayers over £60 million and attracted over 1 billion visits in its first few years alone.
- Digitised public services delivered cumulative savings of £1.2 billion.
- Around 20 core government services have been transformed in just two years, with another five currently in the pipeline.
But there’s still a long way to go. Today’s citizens expect intuitive, personalised digital experiences and real-time service delivery, which means public sector organisations need platforms and systems that are built for modern digital transformation, either through their on-premises IT infrastructure, or increasingly in the cloud.
Citizens want more from public sector organisations
Research has shown that 90 percent of citizens interact with their government via digital channels, but 60 percent of them are ‘neutral’ or ‘not satisfied’ with the quality of their interactions. And yet despite this dissatisfaction, citizens across the board, want to increase their level of digital interaction with public sector organisations; indeed, Australia’s government Digital Transformation Agency found that more than a third of citizens cite digital channels as their most preferred way to interact with public services.
People want more, highly personalised digital services, and they want them now. And public sector organisations are hearing the demand: a survey of 2,000 executives and senior public servants found that a ‘personalised citizen experience is a top-three priority for two out of three public service leaders.’
Getting ready for digital transformation is key to delivering personalised citizen experiences
As the old saying goes: we must learn to walk before we can run. As a public sector organisation, you can’t deliver on demands – more services and better service availability – without first making sure your underlying platforms, systems and security are ready.
Getting ready for digital transformation will enable you to:
- Innovate and scale with new application development tools, analytics capabilities and more efficient data storage. Take a look at Transport for Greater Manchester: upgrading their back-end infrastructure has allowed the organisation to break down ‘data silos’ and cope with growing volumes of passenger data, which they’ve since used to build apps that help people plan journeys, find parking and explore the region’s transport network.
- Build secure services with tools that have multiple layers of built-in protection and features that keep your data and your infrastructure safe. The Target Tracker team, part of Essex City Council, have done this: they were able to make the Primary Target Tracker service more secure by rebuilding it using SQL Database in Microsoft Azure. The result? A cheaper, more scalable service that is compliant with the Data Protection Act.
- Deliver better services in the cloud, as Leicester City Council has done. By overhauling its IT environment and implementing new tools like Microsoft BI, Leicester City Council has made it easier for staff to find data and reports, enabling them to better serve constituents.
Above all, getting ready for digital transformation will improve your:
- Return on investment (ROI) on IT spend
- Operational efficiency and service delivery
- Risk management and mitigation
How to get ready for transformation
Readiness is the first step in your journey towards delivering better, more secure citizen experiences; either on premises or in the cloud. Here’s how your organisation can get started:
- Find a platform that supports your future needs, such as Windows Server 2016, SQL Server 2016 or Azure
- Retire legacy platforms that can’t support your growing datasets and applications
- Update on-premises platforms and move your other services to the cloud
Is your organisation well-placed to deliver the services that citizens are demanding? Whether you’re just getting started on your transformation journey or if working on advanced workloads, we’re here to help you on your journey. Whether that’s using the kind of client management tool that Gartner has recognised in the Leader Quadrant for 11 consecutive years, or you’re looking to do scale your innovation in the cloud, Microsoft has a solution to fit your needs.
Read Gartner’s Magic Quadrant Report for Client Management Tools
Find out more about innovating in the cloud: Do More with Azure
