Once associated almost exclusively with acquisitive firms, mergers – in the form of shared services and consolidation – are now seen as a way to integrate and streamline the processes of public bodies and local government.

Reform, however, is just one explanation for the increase in organisational merger activity. In cost-constrained times, value has become a watchword for local government, and shared services between local authorities are seen as a way to cut the costs of provision.

For data-heavy local government, the process of consolidation is likely to be a challenge. Moving to a managed service can make it much easier for councils to bring together systems and data as well as streamlining processes and providing access to a new range of efficiencies.

The local authorities that maximise opportunities will use shared services as a way to drive change. Engaged IT managers will work with senior executives across local authorities and identify areas of overlap and duplication and establish how to work together to streamline and make the whole process more effective.

The cloud will play a crucial role in this transformation process. Rather than spending a huge amount on expensive consultants that aim for application and data integration, council CIOs can work with trusted partners that use on-demand IT to deliver an efficient form of infrastructure provision, and scale-up resources on-demand. The technology team can then give the rest of the organisation the freedom to think creatively about digital transformation.

In short, local authorities that are changing their model with others around them have the opportunity to break away from the established ways of working and to use the cloud to create a more modern form of provision. The results are likely to be twofold: new benefits in terms of efficiencies and service improvements for customers.

So if local authorities are better together, they’re better in the Cloud.

Bob Quin is Senior Marketing Manager at BT Business and Public Sector.