Even when agencies begin modernizing their outdated hardware and apps, most find it isn’t just about the technology. It’s about the culture, addressing employees’ fears about the impact modernized solutions will have on their jobs.
Despite the hurdles, no agency can afford to remain stagnant.
Developing Cloud-Native, Cloud-Agnostic Applications
Agencies start to move forward by identifying a cloud alternative. This means adopting a software-defined approach to IT infrastructure and then building with an eye toward cloud-native apps.
As IT teams undertake this effort, it’s important they not be tied to a single cloud provider to avoid incurring more technical debt down the line.
Instead, IT teams should develop processes that support agnostic app development with outputs that aren’t tethered to a particular cloud or hyperscaler. Teams should build with application programming interfaces so that apps run seamlessly with any cloud provider or multicloud environment.
The Department of Defense has an opportunity to steer in this direction as it finalizes its IT budget in the coming months. In my conversations with DOD’s IT leaders, I’ve seen a focus, quite rightly, on the application layer. The department is looking at how to make its apps cloud-native and make more and better use of the cloud.