Defra

Overview

Cloud Gateway and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have collaborated to ensure that the government department's cloud connectivity and networking infrastructure is world leading, allowing them to make the best use of technology, data and digital media to support their mission. This is how we did it!

The Background

Defra is the government body responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Defra is committed to transforming its technology estate in line with the government's wider Cloud First and Sustainable IT policies, as well as the 25-year environment plan. Part of this work involves moving its services and infrastructure to the cloud in order to realise cost saving and environmental benefits.

The Challenge

One of the biggest challenges facing public sector organisations is transitioning away from the legacy technologies and infrastructure that underpin critical communication networks. A widening gap is developing between their functionality and effectiveness and the business outcome they serve.

Modernising and rationalising Defra's PSN capabilities offers greater security, efficiency and ROI, saving taxpayer money.

The Requirements

Defra and its agencies have an ongoing requirement to securely access applications and systems via the Public Services Network (PSN), a pan-government network set-up for knowledge and information sharing.

All public sector organisations, including Defra, are also required to migrate services and infrastructure to cloud in order to realise operational efficiencies and cost savings. This is where Cloud Gateway were able to help!

The Solution

Cloud Gateway provided instant, secure access to the PSN and other Cloud Service Providers, meaning Defra could begin consuming new and existing cloud services without delay or disruption.

Our cloud native SASE solution updated, consolidated and replaced legacy infrastructure that had been ineffective and costly to run and maintain. It delivered an agile and secure method of connecting Defra's IT estate, including their presence in Crown Hosting Data Centres, to cloud. Furthermore, My Cloud Gateway continues to provide full visibility of network performance, security incidents, and user activity in real time.

The Impact

Defra continued to connect to and consume applications via the PSN without disruption, whilst gaining fast, secure access to cloud services from any providers with 99.9% availability.

As new and disruptive applications and technologies emerge, Defra has the underlying network infrastructure in place to begin consuming them immediately. Our cloud native SASE platform delivers an agility and responsiveness that is not possible with legacy alternatives, future proofing the network and organisation.

The platform provides a digital foundation from which Defra’s transformation agenda can be launched. They are able to undertake a controlled, phased migration from PSN and data centre services to a cloud-based infrastructure, secure in the knowledge that Cloud Gateway will continue to meet their connectivity and security requirements across all environments for as long as they need.