The #CloudFirst trend is spreading, with Government Minister Francis Maude finally committing the UK to the approach earlier this month. But I remain concerned that there’s too much stick and not nearly enough carrot… and that cloud adoption more generally is ill-served by this mandate-driven ‘solution.’ Technological advances and shifting business requirements affect Government just as much as they do the enterprise. Fragmentation and siloisation can be used to explain sprawling data centre estates, which officials now work hard to consolidate. Shifting requirements, over-engineering, cronyism and politics can all take the blame for massive cost-overruns on boil the ocean projects that rarely realise their promise. Lighter, nimbler, more responsive, more accountable and more cost-effective approaches to Government IT are undeniably required, and it’s true that cloud can — and should — play a role here. But simply proclaiming that the cloud is Government’s first choice moving forward misses the point. The system’s current weaknesses (and strengths) are deep-seated. They are ingrained, and institutionalised. Imposing cloud by decree from on high simply gives the mass of public sector IT buyers a new religion to blindly follow… and provides the thoughtful and the recalcitrant with a new bogeyman to loathe. As the Cabinet Office press release [...]