BasicGov / BLOG

The Year of the Cloud and An Overnight Success that Took Three Years

2009 will probably go down as the year when cloud computing became part of everyday jargon. It was the year when sedate business leaders spoke knowingly of the “utility model” computing. It was the year when the United States CIO revealed cloud computing as the enabling technology for better, more efficient, more open government. It was the year when the City of Los Angeles moved key parts of its day-to-day operations onto “The Cloud”.

And 2009 was the year when Larry Ellison of Oracle brought us down to earth by pointing out that “The Cloud” is just computers – chips and hardware and software – connected to a network.

But what a great year for IT and local government! 2009 was the year that city and county managers discovered they could run community development without spending a fortune on enterprise software. 2009 was the year that setting up servers for municipal IT made as much sense as using “cash for clunkers” to buy a Hummer. And 2009 was the year when city managers could reasonably expect that new software would be running weeks not years.

But, while cloud computing was a buzzword of 2009, we had started work on a cloud-based solution way back in 2006. Long before the “utility computing model” we took our experience delivering enterprise solutions for larger cities and built a cloud-based solution for cost conscious local governments.

But 2009 was the first year that many heard from us because 2009 was the first year we actively marketed BasicGov to local governments. Now, three years after we launched into the cloud, BasicGov has four modules: Planning, Permits and Inspections, Code Enforcement and Citizen Portal. And three years after we decided there had to be a better way to streamline local government, 31 cities and counties use BasicGov to serve thousands of citizens.

Three years is hardly overnight but BasicGov is tried, tested, installed and used everyday by cities across the country. Thanks to BasicGov, “The Cloud” is already home to city managers, building inspectors, planners, code enforcement officers and municipal staff. So, if you think cloud computing is the latest trend, check with your local city hall – it might just be part of their everyday business!

Happy New Year,

David Roberts, BasicGov President & CEO

There was a recent article in Government Technology about how the states of Utah and Michigan are building cloud infrastructure with plans to package it for use by cities, towns and schools.  In Utah, the plan is to provide a “hybrid cloud” which will be composed of a mix of hosted state services and commercially provided offerings delivered through a state run service catalog.

The state of Utah is banking on local governments being more comfortable putting their data in a cloud if they know the cloud is owned by an organization with similar privacy concerns.   The state of Michigan wised to go one step further and provide a nation wide public-sector cloud that will hopefully help alleviate the economic pain in that state coming from declines in domestic auto manufacturing and other factors.

This creates some very interesting market dynamics.  Utah may end up competing with Vivek Kundra’s cloud computing initiative and www.apps.gov and Michigan will end up competing with Force.com, Amazon, Google and other major cloud providers.

So what happens if the city of Detroit wants to move over to Gmail like Los Angeles did?

Will state run cloud computing be operated for profit?

It’s going to be an interesting 2010.