Trends in Government ICTChasing Data, Information, and Decision Support

John R. SavageauPacific-Tier Communications LLCHonolulu, HI USA 12 June 2015

Data Center

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Trends in Global Government ICT

•Data Center Consolidation

•Disaster Management and Continuity of Government

•Enterprise Architecture

eGovernment Readiness Path

Data Center ConsolidationGovernment Gets Out of the IT Business

Data Center Consolidation

•Adopt modern technologies and practices that will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of data center use

•Consolidate data centers in a model that will reduce duplication and un-necessary costs for base ICT infrastructure

•Match national objectives and business needs to ICT utility and protection of national data

VISION: Create a whole-of-government approach to data centers, disaster recovery, and business continuity. Provide standards and integration of the government’s ICT infrastructure matching a wide range of government information needs in an optimal manner with regard to

interoperability, development agility, cost, energy use, and operations.

Technology Trumps Server Culture

•Many individual data centers are end of life

•Modern data centers promote efficiency

•Skills in data center operations lag private industry

•Cloud computing opens new opportunities

•Government exits the IT business

Government Data Center Highlights

•Small server closets

•Equipment at end of life – no support contract

•Few backups, or backed up on site

•No continuity plan

•Government officials supplement apps with public free services (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Dropbox)

•No standardization – apps, equipment, security

•Very limited data sharing, mostly manual or paper

Data Center Review - Government Suitability Offsite Expansion

Location to Task Size Air Conditioning Power UPS OSS/BSS Telecom DR Security Plans Comments

Jakarta Kominfo 6th Floor Small Spot NMS 1 no Medium Yes

Jakarta Kominfo 2nd Floor Small Spot NMS 1 no Medium Yes Single use facility

Batam Medium Central/Dry NMS 1 no Medium Yes Low power

Samarinda Small Spot NO 1 no Medium Yes

Cyber Center Large Chilled Water OSS/BMS >20 no High Yes Best observed - Carrier hotel/IXP/Colo

Ministry of Agriculture Small Spot NMS 1 no Low Yes No power available for expeansion

PLN Jakarta Medium Central/Dry NMS 3 no Medium Yes Moving facility

IDC Batam Medium Central/Dry OSS 5 no Medium Yes Small colo, adequate

Ministry of Public Works Small Spot NO 2 no Low Yes Small , low power, not all on UPS

Bureau of Statistics Medium Central/Dry NMS 1 no Medium Yes Good facility, requires DR

Ministry of Finance Medium Central/Dry NMS 2 no Medium Yes Good facility, moving

Unsatisfactory 1

Marginal 2

Adequate 3

Good 4

Exceptional 5

Consolidation Justification and ExplanationsConsolidation Type Objectives Cost Savings

Physical Consolidation

• Reduce number of data centers through national data center colocation• Migrate equipment to national data center locations with more favorable operating costs

• Facility costs• Hardware and Software maintenance• Non-application specific admin staff• Reduced unit costs

Equipment Consolidation

• Replace existing hardware systems with a national standard • Consider common cloud computing or virtual ICT resources

• Hardware costs• Hardware maintenance• Reduced unit costs

Server/Storage • Optimize the number of existing hardware platforms• Replace inefficient servers with higher performance and cheaper systems or virtual servers• Share backup, mirroring, and disaster recovery platforms

• Number of servers• Number of storage and backup devices• Hardware maintenance• Storage systems• Reduced unit costs

Applications Library • Standardize basic applications used across government • Software maintenance• Software licensing• Immediate availability

Communications • Provide multiple carriers and service providers to interconnect facilities/users• High level of communications redundancy to provide 100% availability

• Promotes price competition

Consolidation Supports Risk Management

• Centralized risk management• Continuous monitoring (including security)• Immediate nation-wide response to disasters

• Cost savings • Single point of contact for vendor support• Rapid expansion and technology agility• Standardization and Interoperability

US-CIO

Security Consideration:It is desirable to have each agency of office responsible for managing network and data security, or is it better to have a centralized security management team responsible for a whole of government security program?

Why Some Resist Consolidation

NASCIO – National Association of State CIOs

Overall, resistance to data center consolidation isnot a technical issue, it is based on personal reasons.

Cloud Service

Provider

“Disintermediation” (Bad English, Worse Impact)

•When organizational ICT resources cannot meet the needs of their business Users must address their business needs Users may go outside of IT’s control

•Short-term solutions create long-term problems Solutions do not follow standards (data and systems) Organization loses control over security Interoperability and data sharing become difficult

Disaster ManagementContinuity of Government

Disaster Recovery

Disasters Do Happen…• How well will you be

prepared when it happens to your data center?

• Is your critical national data protected?

ICT Operations – Continuity of Government

• Indicates less than 15% of respondents are not aware of, or participating in a formal BCDR plan

• This indicates a high risk of data loss in the event of a loss of an individual facility

Tiered Disaster Recovery Model• Tier 1: Data backup with no hot site

• Off-site storage facility• Manual process (tapes)

• Tier 2: Data backup with a hot site• Backups on tape• Restore systems from backup tapes in the event of a disaster• Recovery time is more predictable

• Tier 3: Electronic vaulting• Mission critical data is electronically vaulted• High-speed communication circuits connect to an automated tape library at a remote site

• Tier 4: Point-in-time copies• Disk-based backup• Higher frequency network backups to disks

• Tier 5: Transaction integrity• Consistency of data between the production and recovery data centers• Little to no data loss in such solutions• Dependent on the application in use.

• Tier 6: Zero or near-zero data loss• Highest levels of data currency – disk mirroring

• Tier 7: Highly automated, business integrated solution• Integration of automation• Recovery of the applications is automated• No loss in application performance for end users• Recommended for critical government systems and applications

Tier – ZeroNo business continuity plan. There is no

saved information, no documentation, no backup hardware, and no contingency plan.

The time necessary to recover in this instance is unpredictable. In fact, it may not

be possible to recover at all.

Government Decision Support Assurance• Develop a solid Continuity of Government Plan

• ICT Contribution to plan is “Zero Government Downtime”

• To achieve zero RTO/RPO• Active – Active Sites

• Consideration of legacy hardware / software

Cloud Computing Role in BCDR•Cloud can facilitate better BCDR

•Apps and data image backup

•Reduces RTO/RPO

Disk/Storage

System

Application

(Server)

Virtual Disk/

Storage

System

Virtual

Application

(Server)

Virtual Disk/

Storage

System

Virtual

Application

(Server)

Virtual Disk/

Storage

System

Ministry

Data Center #1

Systems

Backup

Hybrid Cloud Center

Data Center #3

Broadband

Network

Infrastructure

Users

Internal/

External/

Internet

BCDR Plan

DR Only Plan

Data Backup

Primary

Active

SiteMirrored

Active

Site

Business Continuity

And

Disaster Recovery Support

Reinforced by Portability• Standardized Virtual Machines• Standardized Virtual Appliances• Broadband Interconnections

Enterprise ArchitectureGovernment EA and Interoperability

The Need for Decision Making Speed

•Business agility

• Innovation

•Compliance

•Standardization

• Interoperability

DSSReports

Putting Value on Data and Information

•Develop a “whole of government” approach to data, information, and decision support

• Information “silos” have limited value

•Need for data sharing and interoperability

Government Data and Systems Priorities

•Data-based decision making

•Standardization

•Interoperability

•Interdependencies

FEAF v2

Why Interoperability?Interoperability is not just a technical matter of connecting computer networks. It also embraces the sharing of information between networks and the re-design of business processes to deliver improved outcomes and efficiencies and to support the seamless delivery of government services.

Interoperability is fundamental to the success of connected government – the aim for collaborative, effective and efficient government and the delivery of seamless government services. However, delivering on the vision of connected government relies on the willingness and ability of agencies to collaborate. Active commitment (rather than passive compliance) of the people supporting this collaboration is critical.

Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)

X

Government Interoperability Principles• Interoperability principles provide a foundation for government agencies to use in

planning and undertaking collaboration on business processes across structural and agency boundaries

• The nine principles are:

1. Business process interoperability efforts should focus on outcomes

2. Business process interoperability outcomes should be linked with whole of government initiatives

3. Business processes must be user-driven

4. Benefits of collaboration and business process interoperability must be identified

5. Standardized approach to documenting business processes

6. Approach to business process interoperability must be practical, rigorous and flexible

7. Sharing of business processes across boundaries should promote trust, confidence and security of data

8. Governance arrangements agreed upon between collaborating agencies

9. People and Culture differences must be acknowledged and managed

Often overlooked, but possibly the most difficult and important factor

(AGIMO)

Government IT Alignment Needs a Collaborative Approach

• A common understanding of business priorities/timescales• A coherent view of Enterprise Architecture that supports

and informs both business and IT• Clear sponsorship from across the Business as well as IT• Business and IT working together as one, with IT seen as an

integral (and valuable) part of the business

BusinessUnits

CIO

Field/Site Operations

Customer Support

Engineering

BusinessUnits

BusinessUnits CTO

Operations

The Enterprise Architecture Approach

The Government Enterprise Architecture helps enable the following four primary outcomes: • Success of Government Goals and Objectives–

Provide a consistent view and accurate information within and across agencies to support planning and decision making

• Functional Integration – Facilitate and encourage interoperability within and across agencies and between programs and enhanced services by the use of Enterprise Architecture standards

• Authoritative Reference – Provide an integrated, consistent view of strategic goals, business services and enabling technologies across the entire organization, including programs, services, and systems

• Resource Optimization – Provide a harmonized and consistent view of all types of resources in each functional area, program, and system area

One of the primary goals of Enterprise Architecture is to ensure that investments in technology, information and process development are cost-effective, sustainable and aligned with the organization's strategic goals.

GEA-NZ / FEAF

SOCCI – Service-Oriented Cloud Computing Infrastructure

•A marriage of cloud computing and service-oriented architecture (SOA)•Forces cloud

computing models to better meet the needs of organizational inter-communications

The Open Group

Reference Tools Available for Planning•Enterprise Architecture – TOGAF, FEAF, GEA-NZ, etc.

•Service-Oriented Architecture Frameworks

•COBIT – Holistic ICT Planning, focus on governance

• ITIL – Service delivery and quality

• IT Risk Management

Need for ICT architecture

development skills and

executive awarenessISACA

EA and Solutions Transition Model

•Determine the “AS IS”

•Determine the target architecture or system

•Perform a GAP Analysis

•Design a solution architecture

•Execute transition architectures

There is no “Big Bang” Transition• All small, attainable steps

• All fit into a master plan

• Differs from traditional GANTT and PERT charts

• Fits into enterprise architecture frameworks

• Adjustable to accommodate new technologies, business priorities, and changes needed to remain relevant or competitive

Summary

Government ICT Trends - Review

Governments understand the need for a holistic approach to ICT

Many data centers cannot users – forcing non-standard short-term solutions

Cloud computing potentially provides a more secure, agile ICT resource

Disaster recovery and continuity of government plans are essential

Government enterprise architecture frameworks provide a solid planning tool

Data standards and interoperability provide a basis for quality decision support

Questions / Comments?