Cloud 101 for the Public Sector

Getting started with AWS for government, education, nonprofits, and healthcare

Cloud computing enables public sector organizations to focus on your missions, not your IT infrastructure. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud provides a broad set of infrastructure services, such as computing power, storage options, networking, and databases, delivered on-demand and available in seconds with pay-as-you-go pricing.

Whether you’re a large agency or a small organization, learn how to start your cloud journey. Play our AWS Cloud Champion: Cloud 101 challenge to learn about the essentials of AWS.

AWS Cloud Champion Cloud 101 Challenge

Build your foundation

  • Main Solution Areas
  • AWS WHITEPAPER


    Get familiar with the services that make up key solution areas like storage, database, compute, big data analytics, and more.

    CASE STUDY


    Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) allows you to use your data to derive insights, at scale. See how the United Kingdom’s Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency uses the AWS Cloud to analyze data and identify areas for improvement.

    WEBINAR


    Storage is one of the fundamental solution areas of the AWS Cloud. Watch this webinar to learn about the different storage services AWS offers and see how educational institutions use storage services to replace their data centers, store and share files, and more.

    VIDEO


    Learn about the different AWS Cloud database options, their value to your mission, how to assess your organization's database needs, and best practices for getting started.

  • Security and IAM
  • BLOG POST


    With AWS, you always own your data. Read this blog for best practices on securing that data in the AWS Cloud and get insights from security experts.

    REFERENCE GUIDE


    Security is our top priority. Learn about the shared responsibility model, compliance in the cloud, and services that help you keep your data secure.

    BLOG POST


    See how your public sector organization can use Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) with AWS Identity Access Management (IAM) to meet your IT and data security requirements.

    WEBINAR


    What does security mean for a new AWS Cloud user? How does it translate to a regulated environment like healthcare, government, education, or financial services? Securing your AWS account is the first place to start.

  • Agility
  • BLOG POST


    How can the cloud help modernize your organization and help you achieve your mission faster? See what customers and industry experts have to say about what the agility of the AWS Cloud does for public sector entities.

    VIDEO


    When you’re serving students or citizens, downtime isn’t an option. By moving quickly to the AWS Cloud, Mumtalakat, the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain, innovates faster and helps its subsidiaries do the same.

    VIDEO


    More agility means fulfilling your mission faster. Moving to the AWS Cloud helped human services software company Northwoods quickly get their solutions into the hands of social services employees working with vulnerable families.

    BLOG POST


    Agencies of any size can move fast. The U.S. Navy migrated their largest enterprise resource planning system to the AWS Cloud 10 months ahead of schedule. Now, they can more quickly achieve audit readiness and make informed, mission-critical decisions.

  • Cost
  • BLOG POST


    Since 2013, AWS customers have saved over $300M with our cost optimization tools—and you can, too. Get familiar with these services and learn best practices for managing your cloud spending.

    BLOG POST


    See how federal agencies, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and education institutions are using cloud optimization tools to lower costs so they can better serve stakeholders and achieve their missions.

    BLOG POST


    Now more than ever, nonprofits have to stretch their funds to maximize dollars invested in their mission. With AWS, nonprofits can better understand their bills, set up budget alerts, and track usage so they only spend on resources that they need.

    BLOG POST


    The savings that come with cloud computing go beyond hardware and service costs. The improvements on efficiency and innovation can save millions down the road. The Institute for Competitiveness found that a 10 percent increase in Italian companies’ cloud adoption could increase the average added value produced per employee by over €47,000 per year.

“[The cloud] has transformed our ability to build new capabilities and has transformed our ability to solve seemingly impossible intelligence problems.”

– John Edwards, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Take the next step

As you get started, identifying the right projects to migrate can be overwhelming. Start small. Identify the applications that aren’t as critical or strategic to your mission, and categorize them as legacy applications. Then, try a test environment for a new project or prepare for disaster recovery needs. Experiment with these first workloads below, assess your cloud adoption readiness, get familiar with the ins and outs of AWS, and get started.

First workloads

First workload

Put the basics into practice with developing and testing code, disaster recovery and simplified backups, hosting websites and web applications, and running Microsoft workloads in AWS.

Training and Certifications

Training and Certifications

Get familiar with AWS services, migration planning, security fundamentals, and cost management strategies with getting started training resources.

Cloud Adoption Readiness Tool (CART)

Cloud Adoption Readiness Tool (CART)

Assess your organization’s cloud migration readiness with a short quiz and set a path for cloud adoption success.

How to Buy

How to buy

Discover the steps you need to take to migrate your public sector organization to the cloud—from design to implementation.