Private clouds in a public sector

Advantages and shortcomings

The private cloud (private cloud), from the point of view of the end user, differs in nothing from public (public) clouds. The user also gets access to corporate resources and to the personal working environment from a cloud, information of applications is not stored at the workstation, and transferred by means of the Internet to a remote server. The difference is that the equipment, servers and storage devices are placed in the organization, but not on the party of service provider as in a public cloud. Besides, at a stage of construction of the closed cloud infrastructure all requirements to security were considered, necessary certification so the data of the organizations using private cloud resources are much more seriously protected is carried out.

The countries, the first the started cloud programs for a public sector, such as the USA, Great Britain, started talking about riskiness of use of public clouds a few years ago. In 2012 Gartner analyzed the agreements SLA of different providers of cloud solutions and came to a conclusion that the level of their maturity and suitability for most of customers leave much to be desired^[1] of the company did not bear responsibility for safety of these clients. Others - provided private information on a request of any state department. A part of providers reserved the right to delete all information if long did not use service. For the government organizations and structures of the electronic governments dealing with personal and confidential data, an exit in an open cloud was impossible.

As a result of review of concepts and formation of new approaches to creation and service of the state cloud infrastructures, there was a term "growing of clouds", the concept of a private cloud – the cloud under control of one organization gained development. Private clouds guarantee the highest level of security, but have also an essential shortcoming: construction costs and support of a private cloud several times increase the cost of lease of access to the applications, programs and services placed in a public cloud.

World market

According to forecasts^[2], during the period from 2015 to 2020 expenses of the world governments on cloud computing will grow on average for 6.7% a year and will reach $118 billion.

For comparison, Gartner estimates^[3] IT expenses of the world governments in general at the end of 2013 at $449.5 billion. The research company notes that cloud solutions remain an important part of government IT projects, and adaptation of cloud solutions grows: for June, 2013 in the closest 12 months of 30-50% of the polled representatives of the government organizations were going to conclude cloud service contracts or already had like those. In attention focus - SaaS of the solution, but the role of IaaS and PaaS continues to increase.

According to Info-Tech survey conducted in 2014 among the world state organizations, 78% of the persons responsible for decision making for cloud IT projects make the choice for benefit of private cloud.

"Private clouds are more expensive, but also more reliable in comparison with a public cloud and offer the highest level of security and control", - Info-Tech summarizes.

IDC investigates expenses of the government organizations of the USA regarding programs of a klaudization of a public sector, and, according to^[4] of the agency, for 2014 5% of costs for IT of federal agencies in states were the share of cloud solutions. And, according to official statistics of the authorities of the country (U.S. Federal CIO Council and the Office of Management and Budget - OMB), for the end of 2014 the amount of these expenses will be already $3 billion, in 2015 they can increase to $3.4 billion. The most part of these expenses are the share of private clouds: in 2014 expenses on them of federal agencies of the USA made $2.3 billion, and by 2018 can reach $5.9 billion.

Leaders in use cloud including private cloud computing in government programs, the USA, the European Union countries, Great Britain, Japan, Australia is. Private clouds select state structures for which the raised security level of data is necessary. Based on private clouds the most part of the systems of electronic interaction of the state and citizens is created. Health care, education, tax and social services (benefits, pensions, privileges): electronic services from these areas in the majority are based in private clouds.

For example, in a private cloud national service in the field of health care of Great Britain of National Health Service – the global electronic medical record, a single system of records about patients is based. The Health Exchange Centers system existing in the USA and providing information exchange about patients between medical and insurance companies is also created based on a private cloud. For comparison, such data as the schedule and the actual finding of public transport, road departments of the USA provide to citizens from public clouds.

The private cloud cannot compete with public regarding cost efficiency, but the government of the developed countries work on the strategy of the consolidated use of private cloud computing. In the United Kingdom the program of a klaudization of a public sector G-Cloud offers scenarios of creation of the centralized closed cloud infrastructures integrating departments with similar functions. The program also contains a complex of the actions standardizing interaction of departments with suppliers of cloud services. Such strategy work, for example, in Singapore and the European Union countries. In the USA since 2012 the uniform model of certification of providers of cloud computing in public sector – FedRAMP works.

Russian realities

The Russian development strategy IT in a public sector is regulated by the state program (SP) Information society (2011-2020). Key actions of this program are directed to automation, transfer to an electronic format of interaction between the state and citizens, different branches of the state power and government employees. A powerful part of the projects executed within the program becomes using cloud computing.

According to the report of Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation on program implementation in 2013 published in March, 2014 ^[5], according to Rosstat, 30.7% of the citizens using for 2013 the public and municipal services received them in electronic form. Participants of interdepartmental electronic interaction were more than 8400 organizations from which 723 – credit institutions. In 2013 more than 1.6 billion interdepartmental requests through SIEI were processed.

In many respects it became possible exactly thanks to construction of large-scale private cloud infrastructure for needs of the electronic government in the territory of the country. At the federal level the project of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications executed by Rostelecom is implemented. The project means creation in the country of network of the closed DPCs in which data of state agencies will be stored and be processed. Now at the operator also several regional data centers are constructed seven interregional. All this is included into the concept of the National platform for the distributed data processing.

Taking into account the contract signed at the end of 2013, the general budget of development of e-government systems in 2014 reached 282 million rubles^[6]. In 2013 paid for development of e-government systems of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications to Rostelecom 304 million rubles.

The ministry pays for separate contracts to Rostelecom operation of infrastructure of the electronic government. In 2013 the cost of support was 957 million rubles, and in 2014 it increased to 2.095 billion rubles (due to growth of number of the supported systems and inclusion in the contract of telecom infrastructure). However, in 2014 the term during which Rostelecom has the status of the only contractor expires.

According to the mentioned report of Ministry of Communications, within development of secure system of interdepartmental electronic document management and development of the protected network segment the Internet for federal and regional authorities only in 2013 connection to interdepartmental electronic document management is executed (further – MEDO) 16 federal and regional authorities.

In 2013 are put into operation of 18 "Node-2" nodes with ensuring cryptographic data protection in RSNet network (in such cities as Astrakhan, Veliky Novgorod, Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Izhevsk, Irkutsk, Kostroma, Maykop, Petrozavodsk, Pskov, Saratov, Syktyvkar, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, Elista, Yaroslavl, Oryol). 2 standard federal public authorities and public authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation protected a data processing center in Moscow with the automated control system for informational portals are also created.

Works on creation of a uniform state cloud in Russia are continued. In October, 2013 received CROC ^[7] on design of infrastructure for processing and data storage of federal state agencies. According to a task, transfer of information in "cloud" will concern not all federal state agencies. From them the contractor by the criteria approved from the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications will select only some. Explained need of creation of uniform telecom and computing infrastructure of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications economy on updating of the equipment. It sounded in March, 2013 on a speech of the Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications Oleg Pak at a meeting of the government commission. The project of a single network of data transmission for "state cloud" was ordered earlier and already adopted ^[8].

In the state cloud programs the priority is given to automation of state services for citizens. According to plans of the government, by the end of 2015 90% of the population of the country should have an opportunity to make out state services in electronic form. In a priority development of services for rendering services in the field of social protection (a design of benefits, privileges); educations, including preschool (record in a kindergarten, the electronic diary), health services (making an appointment online, the electronic medical record), housing and public utilities and transport (the system of type safe the city).

The information systems of state agencies created in regions in 2010 - 2013 i.e. before large-scale construction of network of data centers, are placed based on departmental DPCs. Such DPCs represent both high-class separate computer centers, and the equipped premises in departments. Here the cloud solutions for internal needs of the organization providing collecting of financial, statistical reporting, different indicators on subordinated networks are placed. In departmental DPCs regional parts of a system of interdepartmental interaction which is a basis for providing state services to the population can be also unrolled.

One of tasks of the state cloud programs, in particular, of "state cloud", consists in transfer of all information systems, today separately set in the state organizations, in specialized data centers. However, the program has "reefs". In particular, FZ-152 "About personal data" provides different classes of confidentiality and data protection. For example, systems in which medical information of citizens is stored have the highest class of confidentiality, and cannot be placed near the system of housing and public utilities having lower level of privacy. It assumes different levels of classification of DPCs.

Market participants wait for fixing of the regulations which are accurately defining questions of security and confidentiality of information, rule of construction of cloud computing and setting responsibility of suppliers of such services. Normative regulation which is at a formation stage so far will allow to arrange, explain and to considerably accelerate processes of creation of cloud infrastructures in the government organizations.

See Also

• Cloud computing: main determinations
• Public clouds vs Private clouds
• Creation of private clouds (market of Russia)
• The main trends of the market of private clouds in Russia
• Private clouds: typical customers
• Cloud services (market of Russia)
• Market of IT services of Russia
• Private clouds in the banking sector
• Cloud solutions for SMB
• How to select IT service provider?
• Service companies: western vs domestic
• Economy of cloud services
• Data security in a cloud
• World market of cloud services
• Main trends of the world market of private clouds

• System of Interdepartmental Electronic Interaction (SIEI)
• IT in health care of the Russian Federation
• IT in formation of the Russian Federation
• IT in a public sector (world market)
• IT in a public sector of the European Union
• IT in a public sector of Great Britain
• IT in a public sector of India

Notes