As public sector organisations face increasing pressure to modernise, cloud computing is playing a crucial role in their digital transformation. This article explores the key benefits of cloud adoption and real-world examples of its impact across the UK
In an era of digital transformation, cloud computing has become a cornerstone of modern public services in the UK. From healthcare and law enforcement to local councils and central government, cloud technology is driving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing service delivery for millions of citizens. With growing demands for digital-first services, public sector organisations are increasingly turning to the cloud to improve scalability, security, and collaboration.
Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services, over the internet rather than relying on local servers or personal devices. Instead of maintaining costly on-premise infrastructure, organisations can access scalable, on-demand resources provided by Cloud platforms. This approach can provide greater flexibility, cost savings, and enhanced security, offering benefits for the private and public sectors.
For the public sector, adopting cloud technology offers a wide range of advantages that can drive greater efficiency and innovation. As government agencies look to streamline operations and deliver better services to citizens, the cloud provides a flexible and secure solution to meet these evolving needs.
Cost
Using cloud services can provide financial savings to the public sector, by reducing the need for onsite infrastructure. IT resources can be scaled as needed and therefore organisations only need to pay for what they use. This helps to optimise budgets and reduce unnecessary spending, meaning taxpayer’s money can be redirected where it is really needed.
Scalability and flexibility
Cloud services offer the benefit of flexibility. Services can experience fluctuating demand, for example around elections or during the festive period. With the benefit of cloud services, organisations can scale resources up or down instantly, and therefore continue to provide efficient services.
Enhanced security and compliance
With the public sector being a prime target for cyber attacks, cloud services can provide enhanced security, when it comes to data protection, cyber security and regulatory compliance.
Improved collaboration and remote working
With more people working from home and central government organisations spreading out around the country, cloud-based tools allow employees to work from anywhere. This can help improve collaboration and productivity and support hybrid working models. This allows government organisations to hire talent across the country rather than focussed in the capital. Cloud technology also offers employees the benefit of hybrid and flexible working, helping to boost employee satisfaction and retention.
Faster deployment and innovation
Cloud services offer the benefit of speedy set up. Traditional IT infrastructure can take months to set up, while cloud services can be deployed within hours. This enables quicker implementation of new public services and digital transformation initiatives.
Disaster recovery and resilience
In the case of cyberattacks, natural disasters, or system failures, cloud solutions offer continuity. The use of cloud services provides a backup should a problem occur, and offers automated backups, and failover mechanisms that allow operations to continue seamlessly or restart more quickly than using other methods. This helps to minimise the impact on public services should an incident occur.
Environmental benefits
Cloud computing can help in the goal of reducing the carbon footprint of public sector IT by optimising energy consumption, consolidating workloads, and minimising reliance on physical hardware. Traditional on-premise data centres can require extensive power for cooling, maintenance, and hardware operation, which can lead to inefficiencies and high energy consumption.
On the other hand, cloud services operate large-scale, energy-efficient data centres that can use advanced cooling technologies, renewable energy sources, and automated resource management to reduce waste. By shifting to the cloud, public sector organisations can decrease their dependence on energy-intensive infrastructure, lower emissions, and contribute to broader sustainability goals. Buyers should check their providers environmental credentials in each case.
As more public sector organisations recognise the advantages of cloud computing, many have already begun integrating it into their operations to improve efficiency, security, and service delivery. From healthcare and tax services to law enforcement and local councils, cloud technology is playing a crucial role in modernising public services.
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a non-ministerial department operating across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It employs a diverse workforce, including industry experts and field inspectors for meat, dairy, and wine. The FSA’s key objectives are ensuring food safety, accurate labelling, informed consumer choices, and long-term access to affordable food.
The FSA’s strategy aimed to address issues with its outsourced service contract, which was initially a five-year agreement extended by one year for better planning. While the supplier met contractual service levels, users found the service slow, costly, and inflexible to their evolving needs, as user requirements were not fully considered when the contract was agreed. Additionally, the FSA discovered overlooked legacy systems and misfiled records within its technology estate, highlighting the need for a more efficient and user-focused approach.
The FSA undertook a major modernisation effort, running multiple projects simultaneously to recover from a data centre disaster while improving technology, security, and disaster resilience. A key challenge was untangling their existing services to determine their actual needs before seeking new suppliers. As they assessed their technology estate, they reviewed business applications, contracts, and data structures, allowing them to refine their API strategy in line with GDS technical and data standards.
Once the FSA had clear requirements, selecting and onboarding suppliers was straightforward. They opted for a three-year contract for greater flexibility and chose Office 365 as their platform due to its minimal differences from Google, ease of transition, and compatibility with ongoing transformation efforts. Alongside this, the FSA overhauled its website and intranet, downsized offices, and introduced new technology and flexible working options for staff. Employees could choose their preferred devices and work arrangements, while ‘User Technology Reps’ were appointed to enhance engagement and communication around the changes.
To further strengthen their operations, the FSA addressed skills gaps by hiring supplier staff as civil servants and explored new ways to communicate with businesses. Their strategy avoided locking into specific suppliers, instead maintaining flexibility with multiple cloud hosting providers to adapt to future needs. This approach ensured that the FSA could continue evolving its digital infrastructure while remaining responsive to organisational and technological shifts.
The FSA’s strategy prioritises supplier flexibility by avoiding lock-in, opting for adaptable contracts, and using a single supplier at a time for simplicity while maintaining the ability to switch when needed.
Initially, the FSA expected that changing contracts every 2–3 years would be challenging, but their strategic approach made the process much easier. They only renegotiated contracts when there were clear benefits, avoiding unnecessary changes that offered no real gain. With each renewal, the process became more streamlined, allowing them to identify underused services, eliminate duplication, and reduce costs. While they generally use shorter contracts for flexibility, they opt for longer ones when dealing with stable technology that is unlikely to require frequent updates.
This approach has delivered significant benefits, including an overall 10 per cent cost saving across IT budgets and equipment. The FSA has also built a more flexible business model, enabling seamless remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, their upgraded infrastructure has improved security, enhanced system resilience, and enabled faster repairs and equipment distribution, ensuring a more efficient and reliable service.
G-Cloud
The public sector can leverage the G-Cloud framework to simplify cloud adoption and access cost-effective, scalable technology solutions. This government-backed framework provides a streamlined procurement process, allowing organisations to choose from a wide range of pre-approved cloud service providers without lengthy tendering processes. By using G-Cloud, public sector bodies can quickly adopt secure, flexible cloud solutions that improve efficiency, enhance service delivery, and reduce costs, all while avoiding vendor lock-in and ensuring compliance with government standards.
