Case study: Federal government
Assessing cloud adoption for optimization and digital transformation
Table of contents
Operating in a cloud environment was increasingly important for a federal regulatory agency. While a cloud-based architecture was necessary to meet industry agreements, agency leaders knew that expanding cloud adoption would also boost internal efficiency. When Congress authorized the agency to collect fees to fund cloud applications, it required an assessment of the agency’s cloud adoption. This was part of a broad effort to drive digital transformation across regulatory processes. Eager for guidance on what to prioritize next, they selected Eagle Hill for this cloud enhancement assessment. Our assessment helped the agency prioritize which challenges to address and informed their internal strategy and enterprise architecture planning initiatives.
Goal
Deliver actionable insights for cloud optimization–strengthening regulatory compliance, driving digital transformation, and guiding future adoption–by conducting a balanced assessment that highlights key technical, financial, process, and policy challenges across a complex stakeholder landscape.
Unconventional consulting—and breakthrough results
quantitative and qualitative data points analyzed
actionable steps developed to implement recommendations
key improvement opportunities identified
The challenge: Modernizing through cloud adoption complexity
Cloud adoption was inconsistent across the agency, and there was a lack of standardization and coordination. The agency’s operating environment had become increasingly complex. It was a maze of stakeholders, processes, data, and departments. So much complexity created demand for modernized services. While complexity drove the need for change, it also made implementation difficult. The lack of an agency-wide technology strategy compounded the problem.
The roadmap to success: Rallying stakeholders with a single source of truth
We drew on our analytical expertise to develop a systematic approach for a cloud adoption assessment that would deliver critical insights to inform the agency’s modernization. Our team’s familiarity with complex environments and our systematic approach to comprehensive evaluations brought order and alignment to complexity. As a result, our stakeholders had confidence in our findings as the single source of truth. The assessment process included five phases:
Document pain points and benefits
Conduct root cause and effect analysis
Identify challenges, barriers, and benefits to date
Understand improvement opportunities and best practices
Derive conclusions and recommendations
Across each of these phases, we were intentional about grounding our work in these fundamentals:
Looking beyond technology. We approached the cloud enhancement assessment as much more than a technology initiative. By limiting the focus to technology adoption alone, we would have missed the big picture and worked without an understanding of the strategic imperatives. This is why we assessed the agency’s cloud adoption in the context of processes and regulatory responsibilities, evaluating the cloud journey as a vital enabler of the mission, rather than as an end in itself.
Guiding with expertise. Our team was uniquely positioned for this initiative because of our deep assessment expertise and strategic approach. We also took the time to understand the organizational structures, stakeholders, and culture and expertly guided the process from the start to optimize outcomes. For example, we helped shape the research questions and designed the interviews to uncover valuable perspectives hidden in plain sight, ensuring alignment with business processes and the agency’s digital transformation strategy.
Gathering multiple perspectives. We cast a wide net in our stakeholder discovery. Talking to different stakeholders ensured that the assessment reflected all relevant perspectives and identified opportunities for successful technology adoption across the agency, which was critical for informed decision making. We got input from people directly involved in developing cloud-based technologies, those who use the technologies for regulatory review processes, and those who work on the backend systems used for submission data.
Conducting rigorous analysis. Our analysis was designed to uncover important nuances so that it could be used to inform strategic decisions. We categorized stakeholders’ pain points and benefits into root cause themes and grouped these into effect themes. We then refined these effect themes further, identifying improvement opportunities and best practices categories across technical, financial, process, and policy factors.
Prioritizing impact. Throughout our analysis, we focused on delivering key insights to inform decision-making. By prioritizing impact, our report went beyond a standard cloud assessment, highlighting critical insights that shaped future priorities and strategic planning. Moreover, our analysis provided unique perspective on end-user experience and the importance of change management along the way.
The path forward: Optimizing the journey to cloud
Measuring effective cloud adoption was a pressing strategic problem for the agency. Not only was it complex, but it was also daunting for leaders to fully assess on their own. Our assessment changed this, offering a clear view of the current state and uncovering 14 improvement opportunities for the agency to maximize the benefits of future cloud adoption.
Top decision makers trusted the rigor and objectivity of our assessment. They relied on it to inform key modernization decisions. Most notably, the agency used the assessment to inform its internal strategy, guide enterprise architecture and strategic planning initiatives, and shape fee negotiations with industry. By combining earlier successes and making strategic investments based on our assessment, the agency is well positioned to optimize its cloud journey, advance digital transformation initiatives, and drive internal efficiency.
