NextGen HR & Pay in the Cloud: Government of Canada's SaaS Strategy

Getting Ready for Software-as-a-Service Next Generation HR & Pay January 22, 2019

Moving Towards a SaaS Approach with NextGen The Government of Canada is taking a cloud 1st approach to deliver services to citizens. The Cloud First Adoption Strategy (2017) sets out an order of preference when selecting a cloud deployment model (public cloud services first), recognizing that no one deployment model meets all of the GC s policies. Cloud service models include, in order of preference: Software as a Service (SaaS) to user the provider s applications running on a cloud infrastructure Platform as a Service (PaaS) to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer can deploy and run arbitrary software To adopt a cloud service model, changes to how we work and the work we lead will be required. 1

Government of Canada Strategic Direction Business has to respond to constant change in an agile manner. CUSTOMIZATION MAXIMUM MINIMUM ON PREMISE ERP SaaS CLOUD ERP Your users on your process on your system on your infrastructure on your schedule Your users on their process on their system on their infrastructure on their schedule Your users on your process on a shared system on their infrastructure on their schedule (i.e. myGCHR) (i.e. Financial Management Transformation) (i.e. NextGen HR & PAY) MAXIMUM CONTROL MINIMUM The Next Generation HR & Pay Team (NextGen) has committed to adopting a SaaS model to align with GC Digital standards and the Cloud First Adoption Policy. 2

Traditional versus Cloud First (SaaS) Traditional (On-premises software) Cloud First (Software-as-a-Service) Takes time, personnel and equipment for set up (installation) must be customized to meet business requirements to have a running system Faster start up (installation) will have a running system but must be configured to provide a business solution Purchase and maintain server hardware No server hardware (purchase or maintain) Long term planning to change making change (enduring commitment) Subscription model great flexibility to potential vendor change (lower commitment) Large upfront and upgrade costs Monthly subscription fees Tangible capital assets and infrastructure No tangible capital assets Access to servers and organization`s storage No physical access to servers or storage Slower, costly upgrades (i.e., implementation projects) Software release cycles - faster deployment of routine upgrades Requires additional time and software for security Monitored network and server security Organization arranged backup or additional services Off-premises service provider backup facilities 3

IT Layer is Shifted by SaaS Model With a SaaS model, the GC has a shared responsibility with the cloud service provider for security and risk. TRADITIONAL IT Resource Abstraction and Control User Access/ Identity Hardware Platform Facility Business Data Applications SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE Resource Abstraction and Control User Access/ Identity Hardware Platform Facility Business Data Applications GC Managed SaaS Provider Managed 4

Business Layer is Shifted by SaaS Model SaaS adoption requires the GC to adapt its traditional business layer in order to maximize the benefits of SaaS. SaaS Drives A heavier configuration, test and analyst role Increased financial management capabilities An opportunity for new roles SHIFTING ROLES Quality Change management to adapt to the new release Service management to support provisioning BUSINESS RELEASE READINESS management to manage automated testing Shared responsibility between the GC and SaaS Providers SECURITY Ongoing engagement with users is built-in GC Managed CONSTANT USER ENGAGEMENT SaaS Provider Managed 5