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CIOs: Understanding Cloud Strategy in Government Agencies

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Cloud adoption is on the rise. The best moment for government CIOs to start asking questions about  how to include cloud in their strategy was few years ago. The next best moment for government CIOs is now.

What is cloud strategy in regulatory agencies?

Let’s start with what is not a cloud strategy. Cloud strategy is not a road that will solve all of the existing problems within the government agency. The strategy must be focused on transforming specific activities. The digital transformation may include only the inspection management processes in food agency for example, or case management in social care institutions. It’s crucial for CIOs to understand that cloud strategy doesn’t have to capture everything in the long term IT plan of the government agency. In a perfect world it’s good to have planned everything upfront, but this is rarely present in reality. That’s why it’s important for government CIOs to understand that they should not give up on cloud strategy just because their strategy doesn’t touch every process within the organization.

Who must be involved in the efforts of setting a cloud strategy in government agency?

We already talked in our blog about the best way to find good cloud software for government agencies. It outlines a step-by-step guide for finding good egovernment cloud software online. But when it comes to strategy there are also steps that should be outlined.

The formulation of cloud strategy is a group effort. A key part of the strategy is to form a dedicated team. Most of the organizations engage variety of IT roles in this team (people responsible for IT security, operations, etc.). But the cloud strategy team must not be limited only to IT roles. For example, HR leads in the team can help the workforce transition in the cloud at later point, the finance leads can advise on costs and savings, etc.

government cloud strategy inspection management

After cloud strategy comes cloud implementation

After the CIO has a cloud strategy it’s time for cloud adoption (or implementation). The implementation part is where the team actually starts to act toward adopting the cloud. The difference between cloud strategy and cloud implementation plan is that the strategy is clear and concise and serves as a foundation for adopting cloud for all activities within the organization. If we talk about cloud implementation for inspection software then the implementation plan must be aligned with the cloud strategy. If we talk about cloud implementation for case management, the implementation plan must aligned with the cloud strategy.

 

It can be presented with this Gartner figure:

cloud implementation plan government

Related: Everything you need to know about cloud adoption in government

Not having a cloud strategy in 2020 is not a thing that government agencies in EU should be proud of. This is why government agencies and their CIOs should start working on their cloud strategy now. Being late for the cloud party creates additional layer of urgency for CIOs to understand the meaning of cloud strategy and why it is different from implementation plan. If the government agencies follow clear cloud strategy, then they will avoid the unplanned ad-hoc costs that may emerge in the cloud implementation of different activities at different point in time. Last but not least, by having a clear strategy at hand, every functional lead involved in the cloud adoption team will be able to use his own imagination on  how cloud can be used in their operations.

Are you a CIO looking for help with cloud strategy and cloud implementation in government agency?

Contact us now.

 

 

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The Compliance Management Landscape For Banks and Regulators in 2020

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The landscape of bank compliance management is one of the most regulated ones. New regulations are constantly being rolled out to the sector. These rapid and dynamic changes make the banks a great canvas on which you can observe the transformative power of the compliance management software.

A recent study that was published by CSIweb.com: What will be the top banking priorities of 2020, shows that regulatory compliance is among US banking institutions’ top priority. The data of the research shows that:

  • 75% of banks spend up to 20% of their budget on regulatory compliance
  • 75% of banks are planning to spend up to 40% of their budget on compliance and cyber security
  • 72% of bank executives said they will spend up to 20% of their budget on cyber security

The fluidity of the compliance environment in financial institutions is a stable proposition for dynamic changes in the government regulatory landscape too. One of the trends that is being observed in government regulators is their growing comfort about new technologies as AI and data automation in the finance sector. Government agencies are a conservative field, but they are demonstrating a will to support the adoption of new technologies in the compliance management operations of banks.

Related: How can AI transform inspections in regulators and enterprises?  

Is there a reciprocity of new tech adoption between banks and regulators?

On the other hand the acceleration of using cutting edge technologies like AI in the banking sector is creating a growing level of reciprocity. It means that regulatory agencies are also transforming by adopting new technologies in their inspection management process. For example our product Canalix – a cloud inspection solution successfully brings AI and data automation in government agencies as a result of their effort to move away from outdated legacy systems.

By updating their compliance management systems, regulators are not only responding to the upgrades that banks are investing in. Regulators are also realizing the need to shift their priority away from old legacy compliance systems and move it towards cloud-based solutions.

Is Covid-19 going to influence the adoption of new technologies in compliance management?

The CSI report was published in the end of 2019. It doesn’t capture the current shifts that are a result from the covid-19 crisis. However, looking at other reports that suggest growing use of cloud-based SaaS technologies, it’s a safe bet to say that regulatory compliance is about to come more into focus for the near future.

Related: Why SaaS inspection platform are the right solution for regulators after the pandemic?

The dynamic changes in regulations in the financial field may be a big drama for banks and other financial institutions. But the growing level of adopting new inspection and compliance management systems from both: regulators and banks may make the drama a little bit more enjoyable.

Are you a financial regulator, looking for inspection management solution? Or a bank institution that needs to upgrade their compliance management system? Contact us now.

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Why Trying a PoC Before Buying Compliance & Inspection Software?

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How do you test an inspection software?  Whether you’re a decision maker for regulator or enterprise, it’s a question that will eventually come up if you’re on the look for good regulatory compliance and inspection management solution. Read our guide for searching the best inspection management software, if you haven’t already. But what happens when you went through all of the points on your checklist? You just buy the software or is there something else you have to do?

Related: 4 Benefits of Testing Inspection Software With Demo PoC

Ask for a PoC of the inspection software

First let’s answer to the questions what is PoC? PoC a.k.a. proof-of-concept is a cloud environment that can be tested from the interested parties in the buying cycle. For example if you’re a government agency that needs a case management solution or a financial authority that needs a compliance management software, you can test the optimization software before buying it. This phase of testing is called PoC.

Why do you need to test an inspection & compliance software with PoC?

Building a real-world test environment that matches your specific work process is a key step in evaluating the qualities of the product you’re eyeing. This is the best way to make sure that your organization won’t face unexpected bad surprises when they actually start using the software for case management or compliance and inspection management purposes. If you want to test a demo of Canalix, contact us now.

Why PoC are more important than ever?

Now more than even decision makers need proof of concept to test and validate the functionalities of an inspection management software. The cloud based solution that Canalix offers allows easy and fast configuration of real-case environment that will reflect the specific issues and requirements both enterprises or regulators may have. This might sound like a complicated process, but it is not. Our team will consult you about creating realistic scenarios and then we will replicate the work process of these scenarios to a cloud based PoC. Whether it is a case management or inspection and compliance management environment, we can build a demo that will capture the transformation power our solution has to offer.

Related: Why the Use of Cloud SaaS Inspection Platforms is Growing

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Cloud Inspection Solutions – The New Normal of Regulators

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In our previous article we wrote about the reasons why SaaS solutions are smart choice for transforming the inspection management model. The 2020 pandemic is expected to accelerate the use of SaaS platforms. This is so mostly because SaaS solutions are offering fast and easy solution for working outside the premise of the office. This kind of flexibility is strongly needed by the regulated industries and the regulators themselves. Especially the part of them that uses old systems that can’t provide functional integrity in the post pandemic new normal.

Related: How SaaS inspection platforms are providing security and productivity boost to the regulators?

The post covid-19 acceleration in the use of SaaS solutions is yet to be measured. What’s clear as of now is that the use of cloud-based inspection solutions is one of the optimal shortcuts to efficiency in the work-from-home era.

A survey of over 820 IT decision makers conducted in March by 451 Research (now part of S&P Global Market Intelligence), titled Voice of the Enterprise: Digital Pulse, Coronavirus Flash Survey March 2020, brings insights that some of the transformations, imposed by the pandemic are likely to have a long lasting effect. That’s why the planning of the future of enterprises and governments must be long-term.

cloud inspection solutions and management

This graph was taken from the “Voice of the Enterprise: Digital Pulse, Coronavirus Flash Survey March 2020”.

What does long-term means for the regulatory compliance & inspection industry?

Simply said it means that enterprises and government agencies that were using old systems (inspection software, case management systems, bpm, etc.) prior the pandemic, should fundamentally rethink their systems for the future. Productivity and security are the first important issues that should be resolved in crisis-induced transformation. These problems are important and their solving is a really great progress for the companies that look forward temporary solution. But looking at the bigger picture, there are other benefits at hold  in the using of cloud-based SaaS solution. If we look at Canalix’ costumer’s data, the list of benefits goes beyond productivity and security:

• Up to 75% of submissions can be processed automatically and up to 60% reduction in process time
• Up to 50% reduction in inspection report writing time
• Up to 40% reduction in total travelled distance
• Planning of inspectors reduced from days to seconds
• No wasted time by wrongly skilled inspectors send on-site

Related: The Benefits of Using Inspection Software In Regulatory Compliance

However, the real value of these efficiency improvements can be experienced only if the implementation of the new cloud-based inspection model is a long-term strategy. If we look at the benefits from the perspective of long-term value, we will go beyond productivity and security straight into the field of cost cutting:

1. Reduction of costs for maintaining hardware

The use of cloud-based inspection solutions leads to cutting the costs for maintaining the hardware that ensures server infrastructure on-premise. The larger the enterprise, the bigger the cut of the costs. In the post pandemic world where the new normal will include more work from home, the efficiency and costs optimization can walk hand by hand. In the world of inspection management and regulatory compliance, SaaS solutions can realize this promise fast and secure.

2. Reducing the time and cost of training

Talking of fast, you probably wonder what’s the meaning of the fastness in terms of cloud-based inspection software. The development and implementation of tailor-made software solution can take months to years. In more conservative environments such as the public regulators, the training of staff is also a challenge. This whole set up process can be reduced literally to days and hours if a reliable SaaS platform is involved.

Related: Choosing Inspection Software: Tailor-made or SaaS solution?

Of course, specific industries as the regulatory enforcement have more specific needs than a regulated business enterprise. SaaS platforms allow customization that can fit better the specifics of the inspection management field.

Related: Industry-specific vs all-purpose inspection platforms

The conversation about benefits from using cloud-based SaaS inspection software could be endless. Whether we talk about obvious advantages of the SaaS model or not that obvious, the current growth in the use of these platforms proves that there’s a big value in their usability. Facing a future where the remote work model is one of the most viable ones, makes the need of reinventing the traditional work models more urgent.

Do you want to experience first-hand the steps to migrating inspections and regulatory compliance to a cloud service? Contact Canalix now.

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