ABIS Cloud Trends: Part 3
What are some of the benefits agencies have discovered in moving to cloud-based ABIS solutions? Our interviews with public safety agencies have been almost uniformly positive on how Cloud ABIS made their lives better.
“With a cloud solution, no need to worry about finding more dollars to buy a new system, no budget fights.”
The traditional purchase model for an ABIS involves a capital purchase with ongoing maintenance. That means every 8 to 10 years an agency must go through the procurement process (write an RFP, compare bids, negotiate a contract, implement a new project) to update their system. Replacement funding and procurement delays can be a huge issue but with a Cloud ABIS, server and software upgrades are ongoing and handled by the cloud provider, and contracts often include workstation upgrades for years to come. They are a predictable part of the operations budget, not capital requests. The end result of a Cloud ABIS transition was a much smoother budget cycle and more up to date technology.
“Our cloud ABIS includes major upgrades every 18 to 24 months, while prior system upgrades only refreshed technology ever 7 to 9 years!”
In ABC’s interviews, we could almost hear the sighs of relief from overburdened ABIS system managers. A cloud solution lets them focus on their core responsibilities, supporting Tenprint and Latent operations. These hard-working folks were also relieved to be able to outsource system support (updates, patches, backups, and CJIS compliance) to the cloud provider. And they no longer had to struggle to hire and keep IT staff because most of those tasks became the cloud service provider’s job. Cloud ABIS system managers discovered they could focus on better serving their users.
Stay tuned for more on ABIS Cloud Trends next week!
