PSN Closedown

The PSN was created so that government departments could have a single, secure system for communication. However a technical debt has evolved over recent years. Legacy infrastructure and technologies now underpin critical networks that central and local government entities rely upon to deliver key services and the way in which services are consumed is being limited.

The PSN is no longer fit for purpose. Significant technology advancements means that it’s no longer the most appropriate or cost effective option. There is now a desire across the public sector to move workloads across the Internet and make better use of cloud technologies to reduce costs and support the Cloud First agenda.

The latest indication from GDS is that the PSN could close down as early as 2023. This is an ambitious target which affects all users of the PSN and anything or anyone connected to it but is certainly not impossible if action is taken now. Public sector organisations have been mandated to migrate to modern network solutions which offer more competitive commercial terms, increased security and greater flexibility, in order to achieve the transition away from the PSN.

However, many organisations lack the resources or expertise in-house to manage this transition without disruption to services or users, spiralling costs, and severe delays. In many cases departments also have complex dependencies on other organisations or applications.

In this ebook we’ll be exploring what the latest guidelines from GDS mean for public sector organisations and why there’s a need for urgency. We’ll also look at the next steps needed to start the transition journey and how to overcome any challenges that lie ahead in the path to cloud adoption and digital transformation.