By David Bicknell
The Microsoft-Skype deal may have got the biggest headlines this week, but in the absence of much progress on G-Cloud and more discussion of the launch of a single government website, Alpha.co.uk, my attention was drawn to another acquisition, this time in the Cloud space.
My bet is that the acquisition by Trustmarque Solutions of the Cloud infrastructure and hosted services provider Nimbus Technology Systems may herald the introduction of a number of hosted services for local government users, as well as private sector customers.
With local government still looking to reduce its costs, the chances are that a number of councils may be ramping up their Cloud adoption, even though for now, most Cloud engagements tend to be for short-term tactical reasons, rather than long-term strategic benefit.
That’s likely to change. Socitm, for example, has already suggested that councils keen on efficiency savings should consider the Cloud route. Typical Cloud services they could adopt might include the following:
- Hosted Software Asset Management
- Hosted Microsoft exchange
- Hosted SharePoint
- Online backup
- Dynamic virtual servers
- Hosted virtual desktops
- Office 365 services
- Cloud based security services, including data protection, endpoint and access control
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