The report, which was commissioned by BEA, an enterprise infrastructure software vendor, found that more than half of the public sector respondents (54%) indicated that they use a shared services model, while 16% expect to introduce shared services within the next three years.
The report says SOA is the clear choice for public sector shared services strategies, with almost 30% of respondents using multiple vendors for front- and back-office applications.
Nearly 17% have installed multiple vendor offerings for business intelligence software, while 21% have done the same for multiple middleware platforms. By using shared services, agencies can replace systems altogether or link disparate systems across the organization.
The survey results suggest that rather than tearing down existing IT estates (a ‘rip and replace’ strategy), public sector entities are bridging shared services with cost-effective SOA models.
Public sector customers increasingly appreciate that SOA offers the infrastructure flexibility needed to build on legacy environments and adapt swiftly to change, said Kelly Collins, general manager and vice president, public sector, BEA Systems.
Up to 67% of respondents believe that IT processes would benefit most from shared services. BEA says that this finding highlights that government transformation can be best enabled by technology.
