The market as we know it has been changing dramatically over the last decade, with each digital development outpacing the other at every turn in the track. Local authorities that are too stuck in their ways are being overtaken by those unencumbered by legacy and real estate, which are in line with the latest developments in IT.

This said, almost every single public sector organisation must remain consistently focussed on digital transformation in order to not fall to the back of the pack. Taking on new digital initiatives to drive efficiencies, create new experiences, and ultimately, beat the competition. According to recent research, 90% of businesses see data protection as important or critical for digital transformation projects. However, the same research revealed that the proper technological provisions are not yet in place, in order for these same businesses, striving to achieve digital transformation, to deliver on demands of data protection assurance.

It has become increasingly clear that having the right foundations early on in any digital journey is a critical factor in the success of transformation initiatives. So, building data protection within a robustly resilient IT infrastructure will be of paramount importance for local government. Not only will this be critical for organisations to succeed day-to-day, but also to ensure complete transformation, modernisation and cohesion. From my experience, there are three recommendations that could be key to help organisations achieve this:
 

Plan for the worst

First, the organisation needs a clear plan of action. No plan works if everyone is coming at it from a different angle. Therefore, every decision maker within the company needs to ensure they are fully aligned with the organisation on the expectations for IT resilience. This IT resilience plan has to include how regularly data needs to be backed up, as well as how quickly systems can be restored when something goes wrong. Backing up cannot be an afterthought. Afterall, what is the point in having digital transformation plans that focus on the utilisation of valuable data if you could lose it all in seconds without the right strategy in place?
 

Merely throwing money at a situation by purchasing more and more products to fix issues only creates chaos

Streamline your technology

Second, they must look carefully for the right technology. In my experience, merely throwing money at a situation by purchasing more and more products to fix issues only creates chaos. Not only that, but it exposes vulnerabilities in the organisation that leave it open to malicious attacks and disruptions. There is a better way forward. I would advise IT teams to begin to streamline their technology portfolio, seeking a converged solution that has the capabilities to manage their entire IT resilience operation – with the added benefits of this centralised viewpoint including improved cloud mobility, backup and disaster recovery.
 

Test, test, test

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, local government organisations need to properly test their kit. Running a full failover test will provide IT teams with the peace of mind that they can fully recover valuable data when necessary, ensuring that all of their plans for digital transformation are not quashed by increasingly sophisticated cyber-criminals. Plus, testing all of the IT works the way it should ensures that organisations can freely move application and data workloads within just seconds of an event taking place, without worrying about losing a single drop of data.

There is no doubt that digital transformation is happening, and has been for some time now. Due to the rate at which the market is deploying these initiatives, there is a lot of pressure on IT organisations to drive it forward and provide the right tools for the demand. Local government organisations will need to work with trusted partners that can help them reach the peak of their digital transformation journey, and can ensure a strong foundation of IT resilience. Ultimately, all of these elements work together to allow organisations to seamlessly adapt with new technologies.

With the right technology for IT resilience in place, public sector organisations can drive their much needed digital transformation efforts forward, safe in the reassurance that the risk of downtime is mitigated, with an always-on business that will maintain superior customer experience in any eventuality.

Zerto are sponsors of the 2020 Local Government ICT Summit. Find out more and register to attend here.