How private cloud will transform government agencies and systems

Government agencies increasingly recognize the limitations of relying only on public cloud services as they struggle with the exponential growth of AI-driven data and real-time processing demands. In a recent interview with Scoop New Group, Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan highlighted rising concerns around cost, complexity and security, advocating for a shift toward private cloud solutions.

“Enterprises, especially large enterprises, they are siloed, and they do not run very well together, and they are not resilient,” says Tan, addressing the historical challenges of data centers. He added that the initial rush toward public cloud, driven by the promise of scalability and resilience, has actually led to higher costs, greater complexity and security challenges.

Tan emphasized that public cloud costs tend to run significantly higher than privately owned data centers, add complexity due to the need for hybrid environments, and lead to increased security risks. “Public cloud is never as secure as the workloads you have under your control,” he says.

Instead, Tan proposes a private cloud model built on platforms like Broadcom’s VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), offering agencies the ability to replicate public cloud benefits through a platform that enables agencies to create a single platform that virtualizes their entire data infrastructure, whether on a private, public or hybrid cloud, and at a more affordable cost and with enhanced security. “Of course, the federal government has the scale…to create their own private cloud based on the VMware platform, and that’s what we’ve been encouraging them to do.”

Tan also outlined key benefits of private cloud for federal agencies, including lower total cost of ownership, greater flexibility and interoperability, enhanced security for sensitive data and improved cybersecurity. He mentioned the Department of Defense’s Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE) and the IRS’s tax filing system as examples of effective private cloud implementation using Broadcom technology.

In addition, he emphasized the critical role of private cloud in enabling private, or internally managed, AI. “Private cloud delivers advanced services such as private AI, which will accelerate AI innovation in the government,” he says, noting that it allows agencies to bring AI models to their data internally, rather than moving sensitive data to externally managed AI platforms, preserving privacy and control.

Looking ahead, Tan emphasized Broadcom’s commitment to supporting federal agencies in deploying private cloud and AI solutions, encouraging agencies to look at cloud in a different way. “It’s an operating model, not a destination. Once you start with that mindset, you can see how private cloud offers federal agencies better ways to manage and control their data, reduce IT costs and total cost of ownership,” he says.

Learn more about how private cloud will help federal agencies achieve cost- and mission-effective IT modernization.

This video panel discussion was produced by Scoop News Group, for FedScoop and underwritten by Broadcom.