‘GOVCLOUD: the Queensland LG Experience’ Jock O’Keeffe Director – Govcloud, and Director – Resolute Information Technology

The “Cloud First” Policy – US GSA “In federal government alone we spend $US80 billion a year on IT and one of the most frustrating issues was to actually see project after project fail because it was based on the old IT model; we cannot continue on that path in this tough fiscal environment that we're in. That is why we, as part of the administration, instituted a "cloud first" policy. Vikek Kundra, CIO U.S.A. Federal Government, 2010 “The General Services Administration has shaved IT costs 50 per cent on new projects by moving to a cloud model”. Vikek Kundra, CIO U.S.A. Federal Government, 2012

Cloud? Cloud is the use of computing resources i.e. hardware and software which that are delivered as a service over a network or the Internet. relies on sharing of resources to achieve economies of scale in the same way as utilities like gas and electricity. is a special case of the broader concept of converged infrastructure and shared services. Cloud is the use of computing resources i.e. hardware and software which that are delivered as a service over a network or the Internet. relies on sharing of resources to achieve economies of scale in the same way as utilities like gas and electricity. is a special case of the broader concept of converged infrastructure and shared services. Cloud in Local Government cost pressures mounting as old systems need replacement and new IT systems grow more complex, meaning more expensive employees and more extensive vendor ‘partnering’ vertical sectors like LG have natural affinity to share infrastructure because the broad commonality of processes and required outputs mean that shared resources can deliver equivalent results with lower resource usage Cloud in Local Government cost pressures mounting as old systems need replacement and new IT systems grow more complex, meaning more expensive employees and more extensive vendor ‘partnering’ vertical sectors like LG have natural affinity to share infrastructure because the broad commonality of processes and required outputs mean that shared resources can deliver equivalent results with lower resource usage

Council Feedback – What’s good about Cloud From our customers … Cloud provider expertise reduces problems, downtime and frustration Deployment of new IT capacity is faster and has fewer problems Overall, costs are lower Less time spent on fixing and more on doing We can do new things From our customers … Cloud provider expertise reduces problems, downtime and frustration Deployment of new IT capacity is faster and has fewer problems Overall, costs are lower Less time spent on fixing and more on doing We can do new things From Ovum Research … “The benefits of cloud services range much further than just the ability to provide lower-cost services. Indeed, based on feed back from agencies with hands-on experience of using cloud services, the main benefits are that cloud services are a better and faster way to drive innovation, not just a less expensive way to source ICT. The cloud innovation edge offers all levels of government, local, state, and federal, an alternative strategic path forward to address their innovation/efficiency dilemmas.” From Ovum Research … “The benefits of cloud services range much further than just the ability to provide lower-cost services. Indeed, based on feed back from agencies with hands-on experience of using cloud services, the main benefits are that cloud services are a better and faster way to drive innovation, not just a less expensive way to source ICT. The cloud innovation edge offers all levels of government, local, state, and federal, an alternative strategic path forward to address their innovation/efficiency dilemmas.” “ICT provides an acceptable service in terms of operating the Council’s networks and existing corporate applications. Overall however, ICT fails to satisfy user departments who have become increasingly frustrated with ICT’s unwillingness and/or inability to meet their changing needs.” Queensland Regional City ICT Review, July 2012

What is not good about Cloud Sovereignty and Legal Risks Data location and retrieval Legal and regulatory Service Level Agreements Procurement practices Vendor lock-in Security risks Privacy Security US Patriot Act Information and Privacy Principles Availability Sovereignty and Legal Risks Data location and retrieval Legal and regulatory Service Level Agreements Procurement practices Vendor lock-in Security risks Privacy Security US Patriot Act Information and Privacy Principles Availability Operational Risks Application design Network architecture Business continuity Provider failure risk Skills Requirements Legacy integration De-commissioning Can I get my data in and out freely? Operational Risks Application design Network architecture Business continuity Provider failure risk Skills Requirements Legacy integration De-commissioning Can I get my data in and out freely?

How could LG do Cloud? Do Nothing Rely on vendors to bring usable Cloud options to Local Government Allow State Governments to run with the ball Each go our own way Each council develops a private cloud Adopt a collaborative sector approach Active collaboration where it suits Look for and exploit commonality Do Nothing Rely on vendors to bring usable Cloud options to Local Government Allow State Governments to run with the ball Each go our own way Each council develops a private cloud Adopt a collaborative sector approach Active collaboration where it suits Look for and exploit commonality Do Nothing Competing clouds Diminished influence and control Each go our own way Many clouds Little or no cost benefit Rich get richer Adopt a collaborative sector approach Not perfect but many councils will achieve savings and other positives Many aggregation possibilities in sourcing and deploying solutions Do Nothing Competing clouds Diminished influence and control Each go our own way Many clouds Little or no cost benefit Rich get richer Adopt a collaborative sector approach Not perfect but many councils will achieve savings and other positives Many aggregation possibilities in sourcing and deploying solutions

What is GOVCLOUD?

LGAQ members have wanted more help by way of services and so the Customer Service Cluster has been developed over time. LGAQ has, and is, investing in major expansion of capability to meet council expectations Partners with skills, resources and common ambitions have been recruited to help facilitate services LGAQ members have wanted more help by way of services and so the Customer Service Cluster has been developed over time. LGAQ has, and is, investing in major expansion of capability to meet council expectations Partners with skills, resources and common ambitions have been recruited to help facilitate services

GOVCLOUD Strategy - NOT Field of Dreams Start small and grow as council demand dictates Based on a safe, secure and very low risk platform Provide solutions to common processes, (‘common’ meaning ‘used by most councils’): – Backup and Storage – and apps – Servers, hosting, DR Provide real value to councils Start small and grow as council demand dictates Based on a safe, secure and very low risk platform Provide solutions to common processes, (‘common’ meaning ‘used by most councils’): – Backup and Storage – and apps – Servers, hosting, DR Provide real value to councils

Why Telstra? Looking for a partner Cloud infrastructure requires high level skills and the best people flock to majors and away from minors Base level infrastructure is a scale game and we could not compete with major providers – our best buy price for 10 racks of servers was 30+% more than AWS’ sell price to market All the data shows that the really big guys are squeezing out the next tier, so we needed a major player Our partner had to be Australian based because of data sovereignty issues Looking for a partner Cloud infrastructure requires high level skills and the best people flock to majors and away from minors Base level infrastructure is a scale game and we could not compete with major providers – our best buy price for 10 racks of servers was 30+% more than AWS’ sell price to market All the data shows that the really big guys are squeezing out the next tier, so we needed a major player Our partner had to be Australian based because of data sovereignty issues Telstra  Scale – multiple, industrial-strength data centres in 4 states plus ACT  Diversity – the best available offerings for redundancy in pathing, hot and warm sites, failover etc  Offerings – complete range of platform services on which we can build value-added services  Experience – Australia’s largest hosting provider to government  Ambitions – $1b expansion in network computing/cloud infrastructure and services Telstra  Scale – multiple, industrial-strength data centres in 4 states plus ACT  Diversity – the best available offerings for redundancy in pathing, hot and warm sites, failover etc  Offerings – complete range of platform services on which we can build value-added services  Experience – Australia’s largest hosting provider to government  Ambitions – $1b expansion in network computing/cloud infrastructure and services

GOVCLOUD Menu Available Today Hosted/Backup Infrastructure Website hosting Backup as a Service Storage, Archiving Application Hosting Disaster Recovery Digital Docs Available Today Hosted/Backup Infrastructure Website hosting Backup as a Service Storage, Archiving Application Hosting Disaster Recovery Digital Docs In Development  Conferencing  Collaboration portals  CRM  Open Data Platforms  Disaster Management  Webcasting  Payroll, HR, Finance  Asset Management In Development  Conferencing  Collaboration portals  CRM  Open Data Platforms  Disaster Management  Webcasting  Payroll, HR, Finance  Asset Management

What does GOVCLOUD do? Capabilities Matching council needs to available cloud solutions Managing the infrastructure and suppliers Finding applicable solutions and commissioning Service delivery Capabilities Matching council needs to available cloud solutions Managing the infrastructure and suppliers Finding applicable solutions and commissioning Service delivery Operations Order and delivery administration IT consulting for scoping, designs, implementations, process conversions, data migrations, etc. Ongoing support Account management for customer relationships, problem solving, escalations, solution scoping, etc. Operations Order and delivery administration IT consulting for scoping, designs, implementations, process conversions, data migrations, etc. Ongoing support Account management for customer relationships, problem solving, escalations, solution scoping, etc.

Some GOVCLOUD Customers

GOVCLOUD example Burdekin Shire, located in North Queensland, about an hour south of Townsville, population 18,000, centred around Ayr, regularly affected by weather events, occasionally severely. Council website, hosted by the council, is the key communication tool from council to community. Decided last year that they should have a back-up site in case of unavailability for any reason. Going off-site to Cloud was not a unanimous decision! GOVCLOUD ran a project to create a ‘mirror’ site in the cloud to achieve this. Seamless transition – council officers and the public were not able to tell which site was which. So successful that council has now decided that the GOVCLOUD site will become the primary site: – Backed-up correctly every day without the regular issues at council – Frees up local server capacity for other projects – Low cost with high efficiency – Council does now not need massive bandwidth to cope with traffic spikes

GOVCLOUD RSDS Redundant Solutions for Disaster Scenarios RSDS provides a scalable, flexible and cost efficient service which allows council to store and control data from remote locations ensuring continued communication, operation and management of all council business even during a highly destructive emergency or hazard. Infrastructure as a Service -Disaster Recovery -Backup as a Service -Websites Software as a Service -Hosted Disaster Hub -Backup -Wildfire application -Guardian Disaster Management RSDS Outcomes -Reduced community vulnerability -Uninterrupted communications -Better business continuity process -Improved community satisfaction -Reduced harm to people and assets -Reduced pressure on other services

With Some Positive Outcomes The General Services Administration (GSA) was fully operational throughout Hurricane Sandy due to its strong infrastructure. Casey Colemen, CIO of the GSA, stated that all users remained online and functional throughout, even with an interruption due to a Verizon outage in New York. Paul Fendley, of Toowoomba Regional Council stated: “In local government we are always looking for opportunities to further improve service delivery for our communities, particularly where there are economies of scale with other levels of government. We have enjoyed working with the LGAQ and GovCloud in being part of this innovative project benefitting the Toowoomba Region with increased ICT resilience”. (The Australian 2012) Some resilience successes …

Thank You for listening. Questions?