b'Moving to the cloud did result in cost saving and cost avoidance. But the most significant result was our enhanced ability to respond and ramp up during a disaster.What were the key cloud benefits for SBA? customer service, citizen portals, virtual desktops, solution platforms, reporting, analytics, and dashboards. Secure, First and foremost, it is speed to execute. In thecloud-based solutions have increased our flexibility and traditional model, you need to acquire hardware, software,agility to deploy solutions and address mission needs. Itdo the installations, configure it, and now youre able to starthas also allowed for the creation of new innovativebuilding a solution for the business. This changes in a cloudsolutions that can combine services and deliver outcomes environment. Your ability to start building that businesspreviously inconceivable.solution is reduced to hours, not months or quarters. What are the benefits of developing a robustThe second benefit comes from the clouds capacity to scaletechnology strategy? up and scale down based on demand. Having this ability is critical given SBAs unique mission. Whether we areCOVID-19 global pandemic underscores the critical role responding to a natural disaster or standing up economicIT plays in all we do. In fact, organizations that invested in recovery programs in the wake of a global pandemic, themodern technologies prior to the pandemic were better able cloud infrastructure provides the flexibility that enablesto respond to changes brought on by the pandemic. We saw mission delivery.it within SBA. In areas where we had modern solutions in place, we were able to pivot quickly in the wake of the Third, from a purely financial management standpoint, theCOVID-19 response. cloud allows us to move away from a capital expenditure model to an operational expenditure model. We no longerIts about delivering improved citizen services using tools like have to make significant investments in refreshing hardwareautomation or technology, such as artificial intelligence and every five or seven years.machine learning. Using these tools can transform mundane functions into value added work. The SBA administrator What were some of the challenges in migratingto the cloud?Moving towards a cloud environment requires a shift in mindset. Its a paradigm shift going from an asset procurement model to a consumption model. You need to look at your infrastructure in the same way that you look at a utility at your home. Its like a light switchwhen you turn it on, charges are incurred. Theres also a change management aspect to consider; what may have taken months before can be done almost overnight in a cloud environment. The benefits far outweigh these adjustments. We have extensively leveraged cloud-based solutions across SBA to scale up rapidly to respond to the exponential increase in demand. Broadly, these capabilities include secure network connectivity, virtual onboarding, cybersecurity, email-based 38 www.businessofgovernment.org The Business of Government'