Australia’s Dept of Infrastructure dumps legacy and moves to the cloud

Australia’s government agency for economic and society development, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDC), has been migrating to a cloud-based environment.

Based on lessons learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic, the move from on-premises to cloud-based infrastructure aims to reduce operating costs while improve its organisational agility.

A large and multifaceted department like ours requires an efficient IT environment to operate efficiently, says CIO Jeff Goedecke to GovInsider.

“[By contrast, during this period] cloud infrastructure was proving very good for access and collaboration, supporting the modern workplace through provision of access to applications and data from anywhere with an internet connection,” he adds.

Another benefit of cloud infrastructure has been the ability to enhance collaboration among teams spread across Australia.

This was deemed an important factor for such a geographically dispersed department. The cloud deployment can also better support employees taking advantage of work-from-home arrangements, Goedecke said.

Moving to an infrastructure-as-a-service platform

The department issued a request for tenders in July 2022 seeking the supply of an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform that could replace its legacy on-premises environment by February 2023.

IaaS refers to infrastructure hosted in the cloud, including virtual servers, cloud storage, cloud security, and access to data centre resources.

The project included migrating its existing data centres onto an IaaS platform.

The department initially elected to deploy a cloud environment based on Azure VMware, Goedecke says.

“Going forward, the department intends a multi cloud approach when acquiring Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to ensure the optimum capability solutions to meet [our] needs,” he adds.

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Key challenges in moving to the cloud

The migration to the cloud was not without its challenges, with network connectivity and configuration issues posing a particular problem, Goedecke says. These includes issues integrating with on-premises and legacy systems.

“Another key challenge - which will persist as we move to cloud capabilities - relates to data migration from legacy systems, which can be complex and time consuming,” he explains.

“Management and governance of cloud is also an important factor, and is critical in terms of orchestrating cloud capability to include forecasting cloud expenditure and managing consumption to control costs.”

It has also been important to ensure staff are effectively cross-skilled or reskilled to be able to manage and sustain the department’s new cloud capability, he adds.

Benefits outweighs challenges

Despite these challenges, the benefits of moving to the cloud have been significant, Goedecke shares.

These have included immediate and substantial cost savings. “As cloud is a consumption-based model, implementation was cost effective as the need for large capital expenditure on hardware was reduced,” he explains.

The department has also achieved greater efficiency in workload management thanks to its newfound ability to quickly scale up and down as workloads fluctuate, paying only for resources needed at any time.

“Longer term, the shift from having to focus on and manage infrastructure and hardware will allow greater attention on digital strategy, and on aligning digital solutions to business outcomes.”

Meanwhile, the department has reaped substantial improvements in its security posture, he says.

“Benefits of an ‘evergreen’ environment include automatic updates and efficiencies in patch management, without reliance on manual intervention,” he explains.

Building on its cloud transition, the department is planning further cloud-based transformation.

Moving to PaaS and SaaS environments

“Our future transformation is built around the assumption we can significantly reduce our use of IaaS as we migrate functions, systems, and software to platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) environments.”

The department’s immediate focus is on replacing or augmenting its core systems, which will include modernising its legacy Identity and Access Management (IAM) capability.

“In terms of major platforms, the department has commenced replacement of its legacy Enterprise Resource Planning system, which is a major business transformation activity,” Goedecke says.

19 divisions organised in six operating groups

Goedecke says the department comprises 19 divisions organised into six operating groups.

As one of Australia’s largest government agencies, the department manages the nation’s road, rail, freight and aviation networks. It is also the agency in charge of legislation for the country’s telecommunications and media sectors, including internet networks, fixed and mobile phone networks, radio and television.

The department also oversees arts and culture industries including the performing arts and the maintenance of Australia’s cultural heritage. It is also tasked with overseeing the development of regional areas of the country.

The divisions that come under its preview include the National Water Grid Authority, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the National Faster Rail Agency, the Office of Road Safety, the Office of Future Transport Technology, and the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

The department also counts in its portfolio Australian government business enterprises including NBN Co, the owner and operator of Australia’s National Broadband Network, as well as Australia Post.