UKCloud has today announced further investment in its partnership with
VMware through the achievement of VMware Cloud Verified status and the launch
of various VMware-based capabilities which help public sector organizations
accelerate their digital transformation to adapt to the new normal of social
distancing and remote working.
The
COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent need to enforce social distancing in response
to the lock-down has triggered a real drive across the UK public sector to
shift from traditional channels to digital channels in order to enable
citizens, businesses and public sector staff to access public services and
securely share data from remote locations. Regardless of how long the lock-down
in the UK lasts, many, like Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, believe that these
digital interactions and remote working practices will become the "new normal"
and so public sector organizations need to ensure the emergency solutions
they've adopted are safe, compliant and sustainable for the long term.
UKCloud
has been focused on helping public sector organizations with digital
transformation since 2011, and together with long-term partner VMware, has
developed four key capabilities that are designed specifically for the ‘new
normal':
1.
Remote Working
In
recent weeks, organizations across the UK (including those in the public
sector) have rushed to implement remote working solutions to enable their staff
to adhere to government guidance by staying home. In response to this clear
need, UKCloud has developed a government-grade desktop-as-a-service offering
powered by VMware Horizon. This offering enjoys the high assurance and secure
connectivity benefits of UKCloud's multi-cloud platform, as well as
all-inclusive award-winning support from security cleared UK experts at a price
point that is competitive with the generic hyperscale options.
"We're
really proud to be working in partnership with UKCloud. For clear and good
reason remote working requests have increased dramatically in recent weeks,
many with an objective to obtain access to clinical applications wherever the
user may be. Combining VMware Horizon virtual desktop with UKCloud's desktop as
a service capabilities, including direct connectivity to HSCN, we're well
positioned to jointly deliver a secure solution to NHS trusts quickly, while
still being tailored to their exact application requirements. Using both
VMware's and UKCloud's expertise in the healthcare sector, we truly feel that
this solution delivers meaningful outcomes, in the timescales and offering the
flexibility the NHS requires." said Jeramie Sutton, Senior Sales Manager
Healthcare UKI, VMware.
News
that social distancing measures will remain in force as the ‘new normal',
coupled with previously published findings by CIPD, stating that 87% of
employees wish to work remotely, mean that public sector organizations should
review their interim remote working solutions to ensure it is compliant,
sustainable and flexible enough to support an uncertain future.
2.
Digital Services
With
almost a decade of experience working with the UK public sector, UKCloud recognizes
that digital transformation is complex and constrained by a number of factors
as reported in its recent State of Cloud Adoption survey. Despite the
challenges, 81% agreed that ‘cloud is merely an enabler to adopt transformative
technologies' and the pandemic provided a compelling reason to accelerate their
delivery of essential public services via digital channels rather than through
traditional channels - for example GP's providing consultations via video calls
and patients using services like Activ8rlives, rather than
traditional examinations.
As
a VMware Cloud Verified partner, UKCloud provides organizations the ability to
adopt a familiar and compatible cloud technology rather than having to
re-develop everything using expensive cloud native skills. By leveraging
existing skills and familiar VMware toolsets, public sector organizations can
easily extend, protect, or replace on-premises infrastructure with multi-cloud
solutions from UKCloud. The use of multiple clouds and deployment models is
ever increasing, and UKCloud can help create hybrid VMware Cloud environments
spanning on-premises, UKCloud datacenters and Crown Hosting, supporting digital
transformation.
"UKCloud,
a UK Public Sector specialist service provider, is one of our most recent
service providers in EMEA to achieve Cloud Verified status. With this badge
UKCloud has been verified to deliver VMware validated design services. With the
Cloud Verified services, UKCloud can deliver flexible and interoperable
solutions to allow its customers in the public sector get the most out of their
cloud investment." said Hervé Renault, EMEA Head of Cloud, VMware.
3.
Cost reduction
Given
the significant government expenditure to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, it
is inevitable that there will be much more emphasis on cost reduction and there
is a need to build IT strategies that enable public sector organizations to be
flexible. UKCloud has worked with VMware on two key capabilities.
First,
the Cloud Adoption Licensing Model (CALM) from UKCloud is designed to help organizations overcome lock-in to multi-year Enterprise License Agreements
(ELA) and accelerates the transition from traditional VMware environments to a
more flexible and affordable cloud-based model.
Second,
many organizations will have adopted public cloud platforms sub-optimally in
their rush to get new services online, and this means there will be overspend
in many cases. UKCloud provide a Cost Optimization Service, powered by VMware
CloudHealth, which helps organizations realize the value of cloud, optimize
cloud spend and eliminate unused or under-used resources.
4.
Cloud Native services
UKCloud
and its partnership with VMware has been energized through the achievement of
VMware Cloud Verified status and together it continues to underpin digital
transformation initiatives across the public sector. VMware's recent
acquisitions of Pivotal, Bitnami and Carbon Black directly align with UKCloud's
values of choice and its multi-cloud approach, jointly enabling customers to
deliver secure, sustainable and flexible digital services alleviating lock-in
concerns associated with proprietary global cloud platforms.