Adoption of software-as-a-service (SaaS) on the Public Cloud has grown significantly within the UK in recent years, with the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the rate at which organisations are making this transition. Whilst migration to the cloud by UK Corporates has been increasing, UK Public Sector organisations have not kept pace, despite the Government launching a “Cloud First” strategy in 2013 for all new Public Sector IT procurement. The top challenges inhibiting the UK Public Sector’s adoption of cloud services include worries over data security; the lack of cloud procurement methodologies; shortages of relevant digital skills; and the lack of ability and experience to drive such transformations at an organisation level.

Infor is seeking to accelerate cloud adoption within the UK Public Sector through its reseller partnership with FifthQuadrant and through the UK launch of Infor Public Sector Suite, Infor’s dedicated multi-tenant cloud solution. The solution covers Infor Public Sector, Infor Finance & Supply Management, and Infor People Solutions (HR & Talent), Infor Workforce Management with the dedicated Public Sector enterprise asset management capabilities of Infor Hansen. Infor Public Sector Suite runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS), who already provide cloud infrastructure services to government through G-Cloud 12 and other frameworks. Infor Public Sector Suite will ensure that both local and central government and arms-length bodies remain on the most up-to-date software releases, to provide robust, secure and easily managed services.

FifthQuadrant has developed a transformation roadmap that supports organisations to utilise the power of the cloud and has produced an eBook that guides Public Sector organisations on how they can utilise Infor software powered by AWS technology. Download ebook here

FifthQuadrant has identified four areas where cloud technology can be used to address current Public Sector challenges:

Finance First – improving the management of both costs and receipts, to support effective decision making

Customer First – using technology to address the demands of customers and citizens through self-service portals, as well as improving operating processes

Workforce Engagement – aligning hybrid working patterns to meet organisational and customer demand. Use artificial intelligence to profile customer demand and employee availability to provide timely customer service and issue resolution

Digitalisation – applying technology across all areas of the value chain, to improve and/or automate critical aspects, to reduce cost of service, improve service delivery and enhance overall customer experience

FifthQuadrant see transformational opportunities to utilise Infor’s software as well as AWS’ capabilities for example, in using Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to meet service requests, or to allow employees to update HR data or using AWS’s powerful artificial intelligence capabilities to address a host of data and service issues.

Jay Parekh, Partner at FifthQuadrant states “We are keen to see UK Public Sector organisations and their customers benefit from using Infor’s industry leading solutions. If delivered in the right way, Infor Public Sector combined with AWS’ cloud capabilities can transform the way that these organisations operate and redefine their service delivery. All of this can be achieved at a low cost, on a stable and secure platform.”