July 2020 - Canalix

Government CIOs: How to approach cost-efficient cloud adoption?

The “new normal” today has many faces. But it sure has one common face for the public and private sector – cloud adoption in the IT infrastructure. CIOs of enterprises and government agencies are busy with the task of making digital transformation decisions, induced by the global pandemic. In this new cloud-centric normal, cost-optimization is the driving force behind the decisions of government CIOs.

So how should be approached cost-efficient cloud adoption? Here are our three advices.

1. Set a cloud strategy

Cloud in the public sector offers variety of benefits – flexibility, agility, scalability and cost efficiency with time. However, not following a clear cloud strategy may lead to increased costs at different stages of cloud adoption across the government departments in the future. This is not something a CIO would want. So a little effort to formulate a foundation of cloud strategy for the whole organizations is needed. Luckily we have a whole article that can shed some light on this matter.

2. Look into the IT financials

The cloud adoption plan must involve a dedicated team of functional leads within the organization. CIOs could use a great help from the financial leads to understand the associated costs for IT operations. This kind of synergy in the implementation stage will help CIOs to deliver more value to the government agency he works for.

3. Focus on AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Technologies like AI are meant to make things smarter. When looking for different cloud services providers, CIOs must definitely keep AI technologies on their checklist. For example a cloud software can bring more agility and flexibility within the operations of the National Labour Inspectorate. But if the software has leveraged on AI technologies to analyze and identify, for example, the most optimal routes for inspection, then in the long run the AI optimized inspection software will be more cost-efficient than a regular inspection management software. Simply because the AI will cut costs in travel expenses.

Are you looking for e-government cloud service that can transform organizations with cost-efficient approach? Contact us here and we will consult you for free.

July 31, 2020/3 Comments/by Boris

CIOs: Understanding Cloud Strategy in Government Agencies

Case Management, Inspection Management, Regulatory Compliance, Tips

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.

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:

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.

July 30, 2020/2 Comments/by Boris

Everything You Need To Know About Cloud Adoption in Government

Inspection Management, Resources

The cloud adoption is an ongoing rising global trend. In both the public and the private sector the trend of shifting towards cloud adoption is visible. According to Gartner, across all industries, companies spend an average of 20.4% of their IT budgets on cloud. If we look at the government area, the percent varies as follows:

Local governments spend an average 20.6% of their IT budgets on cloud
National governments spend 22% of their IT budgets on cloud.

Why governments shift their IT infrastructures to cloud?

This big question has a simple answer: cloud delivers digital government services efficiently and at low costs. This answer backs-up Gartner’s forecast that the worldwide public cloud services market will grow 17% in 2020 to total $266.4 billion, up from $227.8 billion in 2019.

How cloud adoption is shaping EU’s digital future?

The digital transformation of governments in Europe has three clear goals, that are outlined in the European eGovernment action plan 2016 – 2020.

Reduce administrative burdens
Improve the quality of interactions with government
Removing existing digital barriers.

The industrial revolution of our time is digital. As companies aim to scale up across the Single Market, public e-services should also meet today’s needs: be digital, open and cross-border by design. The EU is the right scale for the digital times.
― Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market

eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 acknowledges the digital opportunities and sets a vision that aims to make government agencies and institutions in EU open, efficient, providing personalized, user-friendly, end-to-end digital services to all citizens and businesses within the bloc.

What is the economic impact of cloud adoption in government agencies?

The cloud adoption in the public sector contributes to a more cost-efficient future of the public services through e-government. The cost saving efforts are mainly focused at optimizing the resource utilization. But this is not the only benefit, even though it is the most direct one when it comes to adopting cloud in the public sector. In the post-pandemic reality the functioning of institutions should be a priority number one. In case of other waves of infections and returning to restrictive measures, the IT infrastructure of government agencies must allow its workforce to continue working efficiently. With old legacy systems that is a big challenge, but for governments that adopted cloud, this will not be an issue.

The bottom line is that the broad adoption of cloud services in the public administration (whether it is regulatory agency, local government or central government), eases the access of companies and citizens to the services that they need from the public sector. Even in times of social distance rules.

What is the macroeconomic benefit of cloud adoption?

Cloud adoptions is the way towards productivity. This is a healthy boost for every economy in the world that drives innovation and positive transformation. The workforce can operate faster, more efficiently and more cost-effective. These benefits doesn’t reduce their strength even in times of lockdown because of the flexibility that is at the core of cloud. For example, the inspection management of regulators can be transformed entirely digitally. All of the case and document management can be digitalized, the inspectors can access their cases digitally via the cloud – any time, any place, any device. And it all can happen by keeping the necessary security protocols.
The inspection area of public services is a perfect example for digital transformation that fits the visions of the eGovernment Action Plan even in times of global pandemic.

According to Gartner almost half of government organizations are actively using cloud services. The natural evolution of the market will continue to develop the cloud area. The more we go into the future, the need of cloud adoption in governments will become more pressing. The governments’ information officers need to press the cloud adoption button before it starts pressing them. If you’re on the search for cloud egovernment solutions with focus on inspection management and case management, contact us for a free consultation now.

July 29, 2020/1 Comment/by Boris

Three big questions about transforming inspection management system

Inspection Management, Tips

While businesses are moving on in the post-pandemic reality, digital transformation experts in public organisations are also looking for ways to transform their organisations. The main goal is to provide better organisation functioning in the post-pandemic new normal.

By now, digital transformation decision-makers should have re-evaluated the operations of their public organisation. What’s next is for them to set a strategy and prioritise the actions they need to take. In an overlooked field such as inspection management, digital transformation may be a more significant challenge. We dedicated this blog post to three burning questions that need answers before setting in motion a plan for transforming the inspection regime in regulatory agencies.

Resilience factors in the inspection transformation

Regulatory agencies are an integral part of the public sector. They can’t stop their work. But when challenges like global pandemic appear, regulators need to restructure and reorganise their inspection processes in two directions:

The employees (inspectors, administration, etc.) must work safely, following social distance rules.
The citizens must communicate with the regulatory agency’s units to request the service they need.

So to evaluate the resilience factors on regulatory agencies’ inspection process during the lockdown measures means to assess what helped inspectors and administration staff to do their job. For example, some regulatory agencies with existing digital infrastructure and inspection software may have easily moved their work to a home environment. But other government agencies that are not that up to date with their IT infrastructure have probably had to work with reduced working hours and workforce to comply with the social distance rules. So every digital transformation expert coming from a government agency must be ready with a list of evaluations of the resilience factors that positively influenced the inspection performance during the lockdown period.

Was the decision-making process fast enough?

How long did it take for the organisation to respond to the challenges of the lockdown? Did you have to wait for a decision to be made by your organisation on a centralised level? Waiting for a centralised response to the new challenges may not be optimal. That’s why the decision-making in crisis should be made independently of the centralised government unit. In terms of strategy, this is the better approach. The government agencies that already run their inspection management process with updated systems will be able to transform their work mode faster than those with more outdated inspection programs.

Not making the right decision on time will probably result in wasted time. The opposite scenario, backed with an updated inspection management system, will spare your organisation the waste of time and improve productivity. There must be a precise evaluation of the challenges and opportunities during health crisis-induced lockdown for that to happen.

What are the actual options for the digital transformation of the inspection process?

The global pandemic brought global digital transformation. There are thousands of digital safety inspection software tools on the market. But when we talk about regulatory agencies, choosing a proper software solution becomes a more serious matter. And when the software solution must be an inspection optimisation one, things become even more complex. Digital transformation leaders must be up to serious research for good inspection software to provide security, usability and flexibility.

Are you a digital transformation expert looking for the best inspection software? Start with our Guide for finding the best inspection management software. And if you want to know more, contact us directly through our form here.

July 28, 2020/by Boris

Ready-made vs Custom Software – Which One is Better for Inspection Management?

Inspection Management, Resources

Ready-made or custom software? This is a very complex question. Its answer isn’t and shouldn’t be over simplified with a yes-or-no answer. Since this is one frequently asked question from our clients, we decided to explore in depth the values of these particular types of software solutions and where inspection management systems stands between these two directions.

What is a ready-made software?

Let’s say that you’re looking for an inspection management software for government agency’s needs. The logic dictates that you would find the right solution if taking one of the following pathways:

to search for an existing product that can solve the inspection problems you’re trying to solve
to search for an IT company that can build and deliver an inspection software, that is designed according to the requirements you have.

The first pathway is the one that leads to ready-made inspection software. This kind of software solutions are characterized mostly by their flexibility. It means that you can start using the software really fast compared to waiting for building of inspection software from the ground-up.

What is a custom inspection software?

The custom software is a software that is being developed just for you. In this case if you need an inspection software for regulatory agency, your approach will be to choose a software development company and to start a very long process of requirements gathering and process designing. The building of inspection software from the ground up means that the development company will have to invest significant time in acquiring the knowledge they need for the field they’re about to work on.

Ready-made software vs custom software vs inspection software

Even though ready-made solutions and customs software are two different directions, they may intersect. An intersection point between these two approaches is what we’d call the best solution for the public sector. This is so because when we talk about highly specific niche such as inspection management, a ready-made solution will be able to deliver the specific requirements in the same way that a custom software would. At the same time the ready-made option will provide more value than the custom software development in terms of flexibility and usability.

A ready-made inspection software that has the value of custom-build solution? Does it exist?

Canalix is an inspection management software based on solid experience in developing case management solutions for the public sector. That’s why the specific expertise of the development team of Canalix provides the values of a custom software and deliver it with the perks of ready-made solution.

So if we get back to the questions: ready-made or custom software is better for inspection management, the answer will be: it depends. If you’re eager to learn more about the values that Canalix can bring to your inspection & compliance process, contact us now.

July 22, 2020/by Boris

5 Priorities For Regulators After Covid-19

Inspection Management, Regulatory Compliance

Like it or not the new normal is here. And it splits the world by two – the ones that adapted to it and the ones that didn’t. A lot of researches are suggesting that the new normal is here to stay. In other words it’s digital transformation time for the ones who are not there yet.

When we look at the regulatory compliance picture, we will see that government agencies are little bit behind in terms of digital transformation that would allow them to adapt their work if a second covid-19 wave strikes. They know their problem, they know they need to adapt their inspection process to the new reality, but do they know how to set up their priorities right?

This new situation is complicated everywhere. So of course it’s not the easiest thing on Earth to set up new priorities during coronavirus times, because priorities can change quickly as well. Based on insights gathered by our Canalix customers, we decided to describe 5 priorities that regulators should set in their plan for transforming the inspection model.

1. Focus on security

It’s pretty obvious that when it comes to digitally transforming the inspection work of government agencies, security must be a top priority. So if you wonder how to move inspections from manual handling to automation, then your answer is cloud technology.

2. Control the costs

Different inspection software tools have different prices. However, when searching for good inspection services, you should be alert if the software you’re eyeing offers flexibility in the prices of its services. It means that the best solution for you in terms of cost management would be a solution that can meet your needs on an appropriate level of cost. Government agencies don’t have to pay for inspection software that is designed to the highest level upfront.

This is why your focus should be on cloud inspections. Cloud solutions are usually more flexible in their range of services than tailor-made on-premise software solutions.

3. Have a plan for remote working

The people who had to change their work model for one night, know what we’re talking about here. Recently we read an article that people who watch post-apocalyptic movies were better prepared for the covid-19 outbreak than the others. We can apply the same logic to organization who have experience with remote working models – the organization that already have an experience with remote working (even if it’s just once monthly) were supposedly more prepared than the others.

4. Think about the customers

Who are the customers of governments? The citizens. How can citizens connect with regulators when government agencies are working remotely? Via self service portals.

5. Don’t wait

The global situation is still fragile and unpredictable. It is a responsibility of the governments to be prepared to serve their citizens in all case scenarios. Digital transformation doesn’t happen overnight. But starting today means that you have a plan. And having a plan means to have a key to solving the problems of the current environment. Are you ready to not wait with your plan anymore? Start with our guide for finding the best inspection software.

July 6, 2020/1 Comment/by Boris

4 Frequently Asked Questions On Using AI in Inspections

Inspection Management

It’s halfway through 2020 and so many things happened so far. With the rapid changes in the work culture all around the world, Lewis Carol’s famous quote from Alice, “we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place” rings specially true. From the insights the many enterprises and governments around the world are giving, these new changes are here to stay. Or said otherwise: the new work models are here to stay. The sooner companies and organization come up with optimized solution for their new work routines, the better outcomes they may expect in case of a second wave of covid-19 outbreak.

The benefits of AI in compliance management are nothing new for big enterprises. In the past few months of dynamic changes enterprises started appreciating even more the value of AI in compliance management. But for conservative organizations like government agencies, the level of adoption of technologies like AI in the inspection model is not the same. With the growth of interest towards inspection software solutions, grows the number of questions that decision makers on digital transformation in government agencies are asking. So here are 4 frequently asked questions that we prepared for them.

1. Why use AI in inspection management and not stick to the old manual way of inspections?

The old ways are the gold ways. But not always. When unprecedented changes happen outside the organization, the old ways may turn into annoying limitations. So is the case with the manual inspections. They require a human judgement for every step of the inspection process. It is great to have the resource to designate a human to make judgement on complex cases. But in a future where the work from home model is the new normal, the manual way is no longer an optimal way for inspections. That’s why it’s great to have technologies like AI that can turn even complex processes into faster and better version of themselves.

2. How expensive it is to use AI in inspection management?

The use of AI in inspections is supposed to lower the costs of government agencies. There are two big reasons for that. The manual inspections require the time and efforts of multiple specialists with different level of competence. While AI can take over complex processes like the allocation of cases to the right inspectors and reduce the operational time from days to hours. And this is not the best of it. Thanks to a sophisticated complexity scoring mechanism, Canalix’ inspection management system is looking for the most optimal scenarios where resources like transportation expenses can be utilized more efficiently. So the only thing that AI in the inspection model can do to your company’s expenses is to lower them.

3. Is it really a good idea to trust a machine with the inspection process?

Thanks to the popular culture, the collective conscious is constantly associating the archetype of robots that take over control over the humans with AI. However, when we talk about AI in inspections, we don’t talk about movie robots. We talk about smart technologies, build by other humans that are designed to make the work process smarter. Since inspection management is a complex matter, sometimes the human judgement is necessary. That’s why the AI of Canalix is build to be smart enough to send cases that are above certain complexity to humans.

4. How to get started with using AI in inspections and compliance management?

If you’re looking for inspection software that offers AI optimization, contact us now. We will tell you more about our product. You can even get to test it. Learn more about the importance of testing a demo of inspection software.

July 3, 2020/1 Comment/by Boris

Why you need a proof-of-concept?

Case Management, Inspection Management, Regulatory Compliance, Tips

The landscape of inspection software solutions is big and full of varieties. This is why everyone who is researching this field is likely to be armed with many questions. However, once all of the questions are asked and answered, there comes the next stage – testing a demo of the inspection software. This is an effort that will take a certain investment of time. But the pay off of this investment will be worth, because of these benefits:

1. You will test a real-case scenarios

Have you prepared your list of problems that you’d like to solve with inspection and compliance management software? If not, you can read our guide for searching inspection optimization solution and start listing all of the problems you’d like to solve. Once you’re ready with this list, you’ll be able to evaluate the efficiency of the software by testing it.

The demo testing of an inspection software lets you experience in practice the power of operational optimization – whether it is optimization of inspection scheduling, inspection planning, etc. The bottom line is that a well build Proof of Concept will give you a good taste of the real benefits that your organization can reap in the long run.

As a cloud inspection platform, Canalix can build demos that are in familiar environment for the customers. This allows them to experiment with the inspection software and get a real taste of it.

2. You will find answers by yourself

It’s one thing to have questions and hear the answers from someone who is selling your something. It’s another thing to find the answers by yourself and have a double confirmation of what you have been told. Worst-case scenario: you will know what wouldn’t work for you. Best case scenario: you will be able to imagine what other benefits are there for your organization. In other words: both scenarios are win-win.

3. Focus on the specific needs of your organisation

We believe that a good partner can upgrade your ideas in unexpected ways. That’s why in our practice the building of a PoC is a process that starts with interaction with our customers. The point of this interaction is the precise extraction of the client’s requirements and goals. When the PoC is ready to be demonstrated, the client will be able to test a demo solution that is customized for his inspection model.

The bonus side is that based on the quality of the PoC demo, the client can make more informed judgement. However, there’s one important side question: what if you test two different products with PoC and the experience with both of them is flawless? In this case you should decide which one of the two PoC demos was more easy to experiment with.

4. Get a measurable ROI

Last but not least, testing a demo version of a software is the best way to tell if it’s worth the price.

Are you looking for:

inspection management software
case management solutions
compliance management platform
self-service portals solution?

Do you have a list of inspection software requirements waiting to be turned into beautiful PoC? Do the first step and contact us now. The rest is easy.

July 1, 2020/1 Comment/by Boris