Business Strategy: Ready, Steady ... Go! Getting Ready for the U.K. Public Service Network

This study aims to briefly describe the current status of PSN implementation and give an indication on next steps and action for public sector organizations (central, local, and healthcare organizations) and the third sector to get ready for the transition and achieve PSN benefits from the very beginning.

"PSN is a network of networks built to common standards, but allowing services to be delivered by multiple providers. Rather than being a physical network, it will be a single marketplace for infrastructure and application services, stimulating competition among service providers," said Silvia Piai, EMEA research manager, IDC Health and Government Insights. "PSN is not an attempt to impose a monolithic one-size-fits-all super network on the diverse public sector. This flexibility is good, but it requires PSN customers to be proactive. Getting ready for PSN is a journey that should be started today. Public sector organizations preparing for the PSN need to assess the installed base to appraise transition requirements and costs, plan the transition and network needs evolution, and continue to play an active role all through the network life cycle."