The past year has brought many new challenges for Canadians, reducing our ability to connect and collaborate in-person, fundamentally changing the way we work, play, and live. Within industry, business, and our personal lives, we rely more than ever on connected networks and technologies.
Across the country, we’ve seen a rapid growth in remote work in line with the various distancing measures introduced by Federal and Provincial governments. In March 2020, roughly 40 per cent of Canadians were working remotely to keep themselves and their families safe, with that number generally increasing over the course of the year.[i] The public sector is no different, and is in fact taking the lead to ensure employees are supported and encouraged to work remotely, currently requesting all non-critical staffers be remote unless specifically requested.[ii]
In their daily lives, Canadians have embraced online and digital access to the various services they need to limit public interactions and protect each other. From simple, personal tasks, like updating addresses and renewing licenses, to more vital operations and temporary resources like the CERB, the COVID-19 Virtual Assistant, and longer-term resources like the Canada Response Benefit, the government has swiftly enabled Canadians to manage their affairs digitally.[iii]
By embracing these tools and remote measures, the public sector has enabled a largescale transition to an online, connected environment. Canadians can work and access key services while limiting face-to-face interactions and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Beyond that, many Canadians are enjoying the benefits of working from distance and digital services, such as being closer to family, cutting long commutes, and spending less time waiting in lines, and to support them, many businesses and operations are embracing online access permanently.
In July, nearly a quarter of Canadian businesses confirmed that at least 10 per cent of their workforces would continue working remotely on a permanent basis.[iv] The Federal and Provincial governments echoed this. The past year has pushed the public sector to implement broader, more robust networks for employees and users alike, and in doing so, an infrastructure to support an expansive remote workforce has been created – and naturally, there are plans to make use of it in the future. This will mean continuing to evolve, maintain, and future-proof this infrastructure to meet user and employee demands in a digital future.[v]
This means the public sector will need to continue, and accelerate, its transition to becoming a digitally enabled working environment and service. More day-to-day workers, with larger fluctuations from online visitors, and systems spending longer times under higher loads will demand updated, powerful, and more dense supporting equipment and IT infrastructure.
While this userbase grows, however, teams across the public sector must work to consolidate and streamline the numerous data centre installations supporting Canada’s governmental institutions. This, among other steps, includes closing aging data centre installations and consolidating assets into cloud or enterprise solutions to reduce the overall footprint of Canada’s data centres, optimizing the total number of units required to support the growing network.
While this is a net positive initiative – reducing reliance on aging equipment and largescale data centres to cut costs, save energy, and streamline infrastructure – it can potentially lead to issues as the remote workforce and digital community grow.
With more users stressing systems for longer periods, and greater fluctuations as users sign in and out to handle their business online, there is more opportunity for the network to slow down or fail. While this is enough of a problem for any business, in the case of the public sector, it can also damage the trust citizens have in their government and questions can arise around ease of use, access, and data security if the system can’t keep up.
As the move to consolidated and efficient data and networking systems continues, amid a significant digital transformation, there is a key opportunity to ensure we improve and enhance the equipment and supporting infrastructure along the way. Not only can we streamline, but we can also modernize, with an eye on our connected, digitally-enabled future, focusing on features like scalability, security, power protection, and more, to create an overarching network now that is ready for tomorrow.
Modernizing networks and their supporting infrastructure takes several forms based on the needs of each specific industry, with slightly different approaches for the likes of healthcare or manufacturing for example. At the core, however, initial steps and goals are similar – from the ground up, the system must be secure, efficient, reliable, scalable, and simple to maintain – otherwise cost can increase via downtime or rapid replacement, and in the worst case, can put user information at risk.
When addressing the growing needs of a digital public sector, one can first look towards elasticity and security. Especially in recent times, data centre installations need to capably handle a rapid influx of data and ensure high availability for users while doing so. Looking ahead, when the peak number of users and time at capacity is routinely exceeded, it’s vital that the current solution maintain functionality while expanding – or scaling up – to integrate additional equipment to handle the load.
In practice, we see a demand for scalability today from all branches of government. As mentioned, more users than ever are working remotely, and even more, are connecting to citizen services from the safety and comfort of home. As such, each server is more heavily stressed for longer periods of time, and with this new normal-appearing to be a longstanding one, some installations and their supporting infrastructure will need to be scaled up to meet that consistent demand. In the future, more services may introduce online options, and in turn, will further increase demand, and once again, expansion and updating may be required. This cycle is driving the need for scalability. By planning for expansion now, the overall cost and potential downtime is reduced.
Scalable or not, security remains a vital part of the public sector’s data centre network. While a detailed approach must be tailored for its users, a constant for any system is thorough policies that already exist in many government segments that must be upheld. In addition to that, security measures can be increased with modern data centres through segmentation – separating virtual machines and environments and ensuring only select users can access them, often hosted by independent servers.
While keeping data secure is vital, keeping the lights on is just as important when numerous users are logging in and out over the course of a day. As part of most modernization efforts, updated data centre installations will feature planned redundancy and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) as part of their supporting infrastructure to ensure vital systems remain online when dealing with increased demands or fluctuations.
This power resiliency is a direct response to the fact that many installations are supporting a vast number of users in virtual networks or handling high fluctuation rates as users sign in and out for personal business. These systems are currently, and will continue to be, under more stress as the public sector transitions to a digital environment, and looking forward, we’ll need to accommodate.
When prepping the installation of a new system and its infrastructure, power resiliency can be considered early, in line with ensuring scalability. It can be as simple as ensuring power redundancy – for example, dual power feeds and generators into servers to ensure there will always be a flow of electricity – or as complex as multi-phase smart UPS systems for more critical data centres and networks.
Of course, in the case of the public sector, ensuring added security, stability, and reliability is always preferred, especially when supporting a vast number of remote teams or users with sensitive data. That is where a powerful multi-phase system can be implemented for the best results. This approach often actively provides exactly enough power to support the system based on predetermined criteria, but in the event of a surge or sag, can isolate key equipment to ensure safety and functionality, or can stand in with battery power in the event of a complete power failure. This level of protection ensures the entire virtual network can remain online and protected in nearly any circumstance, reducing downtime and keeping the user experience running smoothly.
As an added benefit, many newer UPS systems that can be integrated into modern installations provide marked savings in energy, especially when considered over the lifespan of equipment. Many modern UPS systems are Energy Star compliant, while all modern systems are UL-Certified, ensuring the highest level of safety and efficacy. Additionally, companies such as Schneider Electric have focused efforts on energy efficiency with products like the Galaxy VX UPS which can save 3% in energy costs annually while offering heavy-duty protection for high and low-density servers.
While this modernization benefits users, it should also benefit those installing and managing the infrastructure and systems. This has come into focus over the last few years with smart technology ingrained in our daily lives, and in turn, within new and retrofitted data centres, where monitoring and analytics tools are becoming a standard. Doubly so when introducing edge-based installations, which can place critical IT infrastructure away from central data centre hubs and closer to where they are needed, sometimes in more inaccessible locations where on-site support can be limited or delayed.
For managers of key networks supporting the public sector – on- and off-site – this digital line of sight means instant visibility to the health and status of mission-critical devices from anywhere, anytime regardless of number or location. Many of these tools, like Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IT for example, also provide apps and services to ensure ease of use, allowing users to monitor from mobile devices so any significant potential issues can be caught and addressed by the correct team before the danger becomes a reality.
Simply put – with clear visibility and access to real-time data on system performance, system administrators can easily and effectively manage and maintain the key networks remote workers and users access every day, and the infrastructure supporting them, preventing or rapidly responding to downtime events.
The Government of Canada has already proven to be well equipped to respond to our sudden transition to a digital present and prepare for an online future. As we continue to move services and workforces online, integrating power and data security, with effective management systems and an eye towards up-scaling systems in the future will be key for the public sector to support a rapidly digitizing world, for all Canadians.
[i] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00026-eng.htm
[ii] https://www.canada.ca/en/government/publicservice/covid-19/working-remotely.html
[iii] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/service-canada-quietly-offers-online-services-1.5544873
[iv] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200714/dq200714a-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan
[v] https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/feds-looking-at-permanent-remote-work-office-needs-after-covid-19-1.4994266
