How the Adaptive Network Helps Solve Government Challenges

State and local governments face unprecedented challenges as they struggle to provide critical services to citizens who expect the same options and level of service they enjoy from today’s private sector companies. I have seen many examples of this struggle over the last several months as agencies adapt to the global pandemic and other emergencies that tend to overwhelm their existing IT infrastructure.

To meet these evolving service challenges, governments need flexible, reliable digital communication based on a robust data communications network and adaptive networking meets that need.

If there’s one thing citizens are demanding from their governments today, it’s innovation and simplicity. They also want state government services tailored to their individual needs. To provide these smart services, governments need new levels of IT agility. They must be able to pivot their operations on a dime as customer needs evolve. Agility is foundational to digital transformation.

Governments must also consider how to stay nimble without dropping their guard. Ransomware and other cyberattacks on state and local governments are on the rise, yet only 25% of governments have adopted a whole-of-state cybersecurity approach that includes collaboration among state agencies, local governments, utilities, and others, according to NASCIO.

Many governments are facing these challenges without the necessary resources, with 63% reporting a lack of funding as the top barrier to innovation. They also report a lack of talent, with 43% warning of workforce constraints and three in four CIOs warning that their staff lacks the right skills to innovate.

Leaning into the challenge

While cloud resources will play a key part in solving a lot these problems by allowing governments to customize services for citizens, the cloud is only as good as the network it rides on. Cloud computing requires world-class connectivity that provides governments with the reliability and flexibility to support fast data flows.

Lumen adaptive networking services offer a reliable, secure, and flexible platform to support even the most aggressive digital transformation projects. It offers a unified fabric of network connections and transport technologies, and Ovum reports an average cost savings of 27% for organizations using adaptive networking concepts. This was certainly the case for Arizona’s Pima County, which saved $30,000 each month after moving from their old analog network to Lumen adaptive networking services.

A government’s network should also feature software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) capabilities that let administrators configure their network traffic dynamically to meet shifting bandwidth needs and seamlessly keep locations running during emergencies. SD-WAN allows agencies to reroute traffic during disruptions or peaks in demand, thus maintaining network performance during the most trying times.

A network of this scale, speed, and flexibility needs watertight controls and security. Governments that struggled to track network status across multiple carriers will find an adaptive network infrastructure far easier to manage. Lumen monitors its network on a 24x7x365 basis and because we own the network, our staff also have centralized control and visibility into the infrastructure, enabling us to fix problems quickly. And all data that flows across the network is encrypted in transit via our IP-based virtual private network (VPN). We can also layer in threat protection and managed security services. Currently we prevent more than 120 large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks each day.

A platform for today and tomorrow

Cost and resource savings free up government IT resources to focus on service innovation, and adaptive networking services can help here, too. It’s a platform for today and tomorrow, helping governments cope with immediate cost and complexity challenges while also serving as a platform to support longer-term digital service strategies.

Lumen can help governments make full use of their adaptive network with a range of bundled services, including Wi-Fi, Fiber+ internet for super-fast building connections, and content delivery network services to optimize WAN speeds. It can provide voice and unified communication services and integrate with cloud services. Governments can even opt for end-to-end video broadcasting services, all operated by Lumen’s expert teams.

Expert help from procurement to deployment

Lumen is your implementation partner when building out these services. Our consultants will assess your existing network architecture and equipment setup and talk to you about your needs, designing a tailored implementation that serves you from the beginning.

We can also help with another big challenge: cutting through red tape. Lumen has spent years building relationships with various government agencies, contracts and procurement centers. As an authorized contractor for many of these programs, we can help accelerate your procurement process and reduce your deployment time. Find an appropriate Lumen-compatible program in your state with our contract finder.

A modern, adaptive network offers a flexible, and functional network that will support your digital transformation efforts now and in the future. Lumen makes the transition easier by helping customers at all levels of the process: procurement, deployment, design, and implementation.

Learn more about how you can revolutionize your network infrastructure.

This content is provided for informational purposes only and may require additional research and substantiation by the end user. In addition, the information is provided “as is” without any warranty or condition of any kind, either express or implied. Use of this information is at the end user’s own risk. Lumen does not warrant that the information will meet the end user’s requirements or that the implementation or usage of this information will result in the desired outcome of the end user. All third-party company and product or service names referenced in this article are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement or affiliation with Lumen. This document represents Lumen products and offerings as of the date of issue.