Every organization has similar questions as they embark on digital transformation initiatives, even if some of their answers might differ. Two of those key questions are: What legacy systems can I move to the cloud first? And how do I utilize the cloud securely?

The public sector faces the same questions, with heavy burdens to bear in answering them. A recent study by 451 Research surveying Government agencies revealed that their digital transformation is focused on improving access to information, finding better ways to share data between agencies and anticipating constituent needs as this transformation takes place.

The public sector, though, has unique issues and there are many moving parts. The depth and breadth of the “legacy” in legacy systems is profound in government IT organizations and their security concerns arguably cover all 300 million-plus U.S. citizens. But the pressure to modernize those systems is no less urgent than any other IT operation.

Finding leverage points within this complexity – in the form of technologies and work processes that are low risk with high reward for digital transformation – is no simple task. But, they do exist.

Since late 2016, CenturyLink has been working with Capitol Hill staffers around the country, helping them securely move their voice Communication system to the cloud. They have implemented a managed Voice over IP (VoIP) voice solution that securely links their offices in Washington, D.C. with their corresponding district offices in each state.

We are proud to announce that this solution is now available to every government agency under the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contracting vehicle. This new solution, CenturyLink^® Government Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS), offers an opportunity for agencies with multiple office locations to communicate as if they were all located under a single roof, along with the convenience of centralized management of their communication services.

The benefits of unified communications can help any organization. But the complexity and security concerns of many government agency environments seem tailor-made for them, from combining desktop and mobile communications, to enabling telecommuting, and integrating calendars and file sharing, as well as collaboration tools like instant messaging and desktop sharing.

These are some of the unique benefits of a cloud-based VoIP system. It was built to meet the specific security and privacy requirements of federal and state government agencies and runs on the CenturyLink carrier-class network. Centurylink Government Ucaas is designed to meet the unique security and privacy requirements of federal and state government agencies. These facts alone should help answer the basic IT questions mentioned above. By doing so, this service can provide a low risk step into the cloud for federal IT managers.

And with CenturyLink Government UCaaS available under EIS, you can start planning to modernize public sector IT services today.

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