Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
In Amazon Chime, Amazon Connect, Amazon WorkDocs, Business Productivity, Education, Government, Healthcare, Nonprofit, Public Sector, Thought Leadership
In recent months, the abrupt shift to remote work has posed significant challenges for both organizations and their employees. However, it has become clear that remote work can be successful when the right technology and leadership are in place. According to a survey conducted by Harris Research, over half of all employed Americans have transitioned to working from home. At Amazon Web Services (AWS), we facilitated the move of hundreds of thousands of employees to remote work arrangements. To foster collaboration despite physical distance, we utilized services such as Amazon Chime, Amazon Connect, and Amazon WorkDocs. I have been genuinely impressed by how our teams have adapted to this new work model.
We are not alone in this endeavor. Some organizations have indicated that they might never return to traditional office settings, while others plan to adopt a hybrid approach. Regardless of the chosen path, our goal is to empower you to select the tools that best suit your needs and be ready for whatever challenges lie ahead.
I would like to share some compelling stories that highlight how various governments have exceeded expectations by leveraging cloud technology to swiftly adapt to the current environment. These examples illustrate how solutions developed in response to a crisis have ushered the public sector into a new era of IT—offering insights on how to effectively advance your mission.
Ensuring Uninterrupted Operations
The New Jersey Courts system had already established the necessary infrastructure to enable a seamless transition to remote work. Following their shift away from the office, they experienced increased efficiency. In response to COVID-19, numerous court systems nationwide had to halt proceedings. However, through an investment in technology modernization, including a transition to the AWS Cloud, the New Jersey Courts maintained business continuity while 99 percent of staff worked from home.
Processing approximately seven million cases annually, the courts had migrated 40 applications to AWS by the summer of 2019. For the past three years, they have utilized virtual courtrooms for criminal justice hearings, handling around 20 to 30 cases weekly. Since March 2020, more than 50,000 virtual court events have taken place, engaging 500,000 participants.
“Our infrastructure was already in place; we just expanded its capacity,” stated Mark Johnson, Chief Information Officer of New Jersey Courts. “Our team accomplished in six days what typically takes six months—scaling our VPN and virtual desktops, expanding our virtual courtrooms from 40 to 340, and ensuring our staff could work effectively from home.”
The virtual courts are set to remain in operation for at least the next few years as the system adapts to the new normal.
Transitioning Seamlessly to Remote Work
Similarly, the LA County Internal Services Department (LA ISD) had implemented its Amazon Connect solution over a year prior. Thus, when the pandemic emerged, they were well-prepared to transition over 100,000 staff members from the office to remote work in response to California’s shelter-in-place orders. Employees serving 10 million LA County residents were able to continue delivering essential services without disruption. LA County ISD successfully transitioned more than 30,000 workers to remote work using Amazon AppStream 2.0.
While the pandemic was unforeseen, the county’s existing mobile cloud strategy enabled a smooth transition for workers accustomed to traditional office environments to a remote workspace—providing them with the necessary tools and software to perform their jobs effectively now and in the future. Moving forward, LA County ISD plans to enhance its call center solution by integrating advanced services like Amazon Comprehend for sentiment analysis and topic modeling. As Benny Chacko, Deputy Manager of LA County ISD notes, “One of our objectives is to achieve first-call resolution, ensuring calls are resolved on the first contact rather than necessitating a help ticket.”
Rapidly Establishing Remote Access for Employees
In Italy, the City of Cagliari collaborated with AWS to transition over 600 city employees to remote work during enforced quarantine measures. Within just over a week, staff from crucial departments such as payroll, finance, and legal were operating remotely. Without the need for software installations, these essential personnel accessed their applications through a Windows 10 web client linked to the corporate Active Directory.
In the subsequent weeks, the number of personnel utilizing Amazon WorkSpaces rose to 623, including 50 engineers requiring access to Amazon Graphics WorkSpaces for computer-aided design applications. The city is employing Amazon WorkSpaces in conjunction with an encrypted VPN channel from Cagliari’s datacenter, ensuring that remote workers can maintain essential municipal operations.
Piero Orofino, IT Manager at the City of Cagliari, stated, “During this national emergency, Amazon WorkSpaces has enabled us to continue supporting our citizens, even while we worked from home. We, like many across Italy, did not stop.”
This resilient attitude among our public servants is encouraging. Organizations can persist in delivering services to citizens anytime, anywhere, and uphold their missions. Although these examples highlight how governments adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic, we want you to move forward with confidence, knowing that you can rely on the scalability, security, and dependability of AWS.
Last month, I was excited to participate in a discussion at the virtual FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit alongside leaders from the U.S. Department of State, SoftBank Investment Advisors, and GoDaddy. We explored business continuity, innovation in global business practices, and the role of technology in enhancing collaboration and communication during COVID-19. You can view our conversation here.
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