Cloud Computing Implications for Digital Preservation Stuart Wakefield Director, Office of GCIO Department of Internal Affairs

1. Cloud Computing
Implications for Digital
Preservation
Stuart Wakefield
Director, Office of GCIO
Department of Internal Affairs

2. Topics for Today
• Overview of NZ public sector approach to cloud
computing and current initiatives
• Potential implications for digital preservation
• Will current digital preservation approaches be viable
for a could based service?
• Should the archive also reside in the cloud?
• Can you preserve an application context for a cloud
based service that updates frequently?
• What are the key policy & design considerations for
adopting cloud to ensure a smooth transition in years
to come?

3. NZ GOVERNMENT CLOUD
OVERVIEW

4. The role of the Government CIO
• Support & Implement Government (ICT) Policy
• Leads ICT strategy for the public sector
• Provides a single point of coordination internationally
• Provides support and advice to agencies
• Provide Enterprise Architecture (GEA-NZ) and ICT
Roadmap

5. ICT Roadmap – Common Capabilities
Architectural Building Blocks
End User • Including; Desktops, Laptops, Multifunctional
e.g. Devices, Mobiles
Devices
• Including; one.govt, secure email, unified
Communications e.g. LAN / WAN
communications
• Including; web standards, domain management,
Channels and Online Gateway
e.g. reusable web environment, public sector intranet,
Touchpoints Presence Services
online consultation
• Identity: Including; EOI, igovt logon, identity verification,
identify data validation
Business Business Identity • Data Sharing: Including authoritative data definition,
Process e.g. Process Information interoperability standards, data sharing, data management,
and Integration Integration Management government service bus concepts
• Public Sector IAM: Identity of state sector employees and
their access to information and systems
Business and Unique • Including the focus on approaches to
e.g. Business ….
Operational standardising government business functions such
Functions
Functions as finance IaaS
Infrastructure • Includes the development of core ICT infrastructure
e.g.
Foundation components including infrastructure, software asset
Security management, security, software as a service
5

7. IaaS for NZ Government
• For us IaaS is the provision of utility computing and housing for datacentre
equipment, also storage as a service (access to disk space for files) and
Back Up and Restore as a service (for securing data)
• Utility computing means the ability to use a virtualised compute resource
of a certain capacity (Processing power, memory, storage etc) as needed,
and on demand (pay as you go)
• Housing allows our agencies to migrate from their existing datacentres as
a precursor to adopting a virtualised utility computing model
7

8. IaaS as a Foundation for Future Services
Software as a Service
•Fully functional application provided
•Examples: Email (EaaS); Financials; CRM
Platform as a Service
•Operating system provided
•Examples: Windows; LINUX; Oracle Database
Infrastructure as a Service
•Virtual platform on which operating system and
application are deployed
•Includes Storage as a Service
8

9. NZ Government Cloud Programme
1. Indicative Business Case for “Government Cloud” that will:
• Identify opportunities where a cloud computing approach may add value
• Assess the feasibility & market maturity of cloud computing at various
points in the stack
• Determine future roadmap and timeframes for cloud adoption (over and
above Office Productivity)
• Identify the range of potential solutions to address “resolvable challenges”
2. Detailed Business Case for “Office Productivity Services” that will:
• Identify available and applicable service offerings
• Assess these against agency need
• Describe the commercial, financial, economic, strategic and management
impacts of the available options
• Determine an implementation plan (including procurement) and timeframe

10. NZ Government Cloud Programme
– Approach
• Programme draws expertise and is resourced from across
government
• Government CIO provides strategic direction and overall assurance
• Consultative engagement with vendors to inform the business case
• No pre-determined requirements on solutions
• Open to exploring a range of options to address “resolvable
challenges” to widespread adoption of cloud computing

11. IMPLICATIONS OF CLOUD

12. Current state digital archive
Policy & Governance Access tools
Info system
Digital repository
Info system
Ingest / Digital Preservation Processes
Quality
Info system Assurance
Info system
Infrastructure

13. Implications of Cloud Computing
• Cloud computing providers update and change their systems
frequently to take advantage of new technology or offer competitive
features
• Cloud computing abstracts users and organisations away from the
underlying systems, data and infrastructure
• In any non-private cloud model the data is potentially hosted on a
shared platform with other users or organisations
• At the end of the contract, or if the cloud provider ceases operations,
the data and application may no longer be available
• DATA REPATRIATION is an essential consideration for any cloud
computing deployment
• Does this offer an opportunity to “kill two birds with one stone?”

14. A future state digital archive ?
Policy & Governance
Info system (Public Cloud) Access tools (SaaS)
Info system (Comm. Cloud)
Info system (Comm. Cloud)
Digital repository
Info system (Private Cloud)
n
tio
Digital Preservation Processes
tria
pa
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Re
Ingest /
Quality
Assurance

15. The Virtual Archive...
• Archiving has traditionally required notions of permanence, however
consider the case for a more “virtual” model:
• Hosting Repatriated data in a private cloud Infrastructure as a Service
(IaaS) deployment
• Hosting archival metadata in a private cloud Infrastructure as a
Service (IaaS) deployment
• “Ingestion” becomes a logical rather than physical process
• Access tools could also be cloud (SaaS) deployments

16. The role of the Data Warehouse
• Substantial resources have already been devoted to build enterprise data
warehouses
• Repatriated cloud data could also be housed in a data warehousing
construct
• Analytics, enterprise search, contextual analysis, and business
intelligence all link to the data warehouse, giving insight to data
• With research and development investment in analytics orders of
magnitude higher than for pure digital preservation systems, it seems
likely that analytic capability will advance much more rapidly than digital
preservation systems
• DP solutions may need to be developed to act upon enterprise data
warehouse systems rather than operate on specialised digital archives of
non-current information

17. APPLICATION CONTEXT

18. Preserving application context
• Office Productivity
o Sheer prevalence of common office productivity software with levels of “backward
compatibility” provides current protection against digital obsolescence
o Is this sustainable into the future, when your cloud based office productivity system and
your files may be updated to a new version without your consent or knowledge?
• Cloud Computing Systems
o How would application context be preserved where there was little/no control over
frequent updates and little/no control over Intellectual Property crucial for the application
context?
• Large-scale adoption of common cloud environments may allow scope
for negotiation of context documentation as a requirement
o consistent migration planning
o better digital object attribute description
• Mandating common cloud environments provides consistency for digital
preservation
• Virtualisation offers some possibilities, but difficult to virtualise a snapshot
of all the “moving parts” of a cloud based system

19. POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

20. Cloud Policy Considerations
• privacy – ensuring that services meet public expectations of privacy;
• security – ensuring that cloud computing services and their providers
are secure;
• sovereignty – guaranteeing continuing access to and control of
information and data;
• legislation - addressing any legislative constraints that prevent
widespread adoption of cloud computing services;
• resilience – ensuring that New Zealand has robust international
connectivity to the Internet;
• interoperability – ensuring that cloud computing services and legacy
ICT systems work efficiently together to produce a seamless
business operating environment;
• migration – developing a seamless transition plan that delivers early
benefits; and
• exit strategy – ensuring that contractual, technological, and planning
resources are in place to exit non-performing or superseded systems

21. And most importantly...
• data repatriation– ensuring a regular
backup (preferably a real time feed) of the
data hosted by the cloud provider to a
repository within your direct control

22. For more information
Government ICT Website
www.ict.govt.nz
My contact details:
stuart.wakefield@dia.govt.nz
04 495 6035