IT delivery service models are converging, and this shift is driving a transition from the traditional fragmented IT environment to a more seamless cloud experience. The business and operational benefits of cloud computing are as relevant to the public sector as to the private sector—and in some cases, even more relevant.

Government Cloud Computing ChallengesBy adopting a cloud-based IT strategy, governments will fundamentally change the way IT services are delivered and how they are consumed while at the same time realizing tangible operational and financial benefits, such as reducing costs, improving organizational agility, and transforming government service delivery.

Before governments can fully embrace the benefits of cloud computing, they must ensure a high level of confidence in virtualization and cloud computing as a service delivery strategy. Current barriers to government migration to cloud computing include:

• Security: Government agencies need assurance of a secure and reliable cloud computing strategy to manage their user and citizen information before they can commit to change.

• Investment protection: With IT costs spiraling and government budget decreasing any commitment of funds must show measurable return on investment (ROI).

• Sustainability: More than just the high-level benefits of cloud computing governments need to understand how cloud-based technology can optimize legacy IT infrastructures while providing new capabilities and services.

• Trusted vendor partnerships: Governments need confidence that vendors have the technology, industry expertise, and strategic partnerships to support their transition to cloud computing.

At-A-GlanceCloud Advantage for Government

Benefits of Cloud Computing for Government

Leverage Efficiency to Reduce Costs

Current Environment Cloud Environment• Fragmented and duplicative systems

• Difficult-to-manage systems

• Low asset utilization (less than 30%)

• Optimized legacy IT infrastructure while adding

new services

• Decreased software/application maintenance

• Decreased staffing and administrative costs

• Improved asset utilization by 60-70%

Improve Organizational Agility

Current Environment Cloud Environment

• Multiple years required to build data centers for

new services

• Months required to increase capacity

of existing services

• Self-provisioning of services for agencies

• Workflow collaboration across different agencies

through seamless systems

• Real-time response to increases and decreases

in workload

Transform Government Through Innovation

Current Environment Cloud Environment

• Burdened by asset and service management

• Decoupled from private sector

innovation engines

• Free up resources to invest in mission-critical

applications and services

• Shift focus from asset ownership to

service management

• Improve citizen engagement

The Cisco Cloud Computing Approach for GovernmentNo matter what type of cloud you want to deploy – hybrid, community, private, or public – Cisco, and our pervasive ecosystem of partners, can support it. The network is the fabric that links clouds and all their components seamlessly and securely. Cisco addresses government’s uncertainty in cloud computing by focusing on more than just security – our assurance of integrity, together with our extensive suite of offerings, will help governments meet their critical imperatives and make the transition to the cloud with confidence.

Technology Cisco provides an end-to-end, technology-agnostic approach to cloud computing that includes a complete suite of offerings across infrastructure, applications, and services. This approach enables governments to reduce costs, improve organizational efficiency and be more innovative.

Experience Cisco has over two decades of experience in helping the private and public sectors navigate major IT transitions. We have the technical expertise and the industry leadership to be a strategic partner in the migration to private, public, hybrid, and community clouds.

Assurance of Integrity Cisco engineers integrity into clouds by providing a secure, reliable, dynamic, and seamless technology framework.

Why Cisco?Since 1984, Cisco has been enabling computing model transitions – now we’re at the forefront of providing a solid foundation for cloud. Today, our industry expertise and strategic partnerships continue to allow us to deliver innovation and technology leadership to both the public and private sectors. We offer an extensive suite of solutions for cloud computing across infrastructure, applications and services.  Our solutions enable government agencies to drive new efficiencies, offer new citizen services, and maximize their budget potential. Our open approach to cloud computing means that whether agencies choose to build their own clouds or utilize a service provider, they can benefit from our unique blend of strong partnerships, world-class solutions and self-service resources.

Learn More Today For more information on the Cisco Cloud Advantage for Government, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/govcloud

Cisco Cloud Offerings for Government

• Cisco WebEx® Collaboration (web conferencing, instant messaging and presence, team spaces, security)

• Cisco Hosted Collaboration solution• Cisco ScanSafe Cloud Web Security

Applications

• Cisco Services (Cloud Strategy, Cloud Planning and Design, Cloud Implementation, Cisco Hosted Services)

• Partner Services (Cloud Strategy, Cloud Planning and Design, Cloud Implementation)

• Self-Service (Downloadable Cisco-authored design guides to build your clouds)

Services

• Cisco Unified Computing System™• Cisco United Fabric• Cisco Nexus®• Network and Content Security• WAN Optimization• Intelligent Automation (Tidal, newScale) • Switching and Routing

Infrastructure

© 2011 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco’s trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1009R)

At-A-GlanceCloud Advantage for Government