ATO Revamps Cloud Responsibility Model

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is undergoing a significant transformation in how its developers and teams interact with public cloud services, with a strong emphasis on developer self-service, optimization, and cost management. This shift reflects the ATO's evolution as a "digital government department," as highlighted by Rhiannon Ross, the Senior Cloud Program Director, during her presentation at the AWS Symposium in Canberra.

Ross emphasized that the ATO's journey into cloud computing has been a tremendous success, far exceeding initial expectations and demonstrating the significant business value that cloud adoption can bring. This success is now driving structural, technical, and cultural changes within the organization, particularly in how cloud services are managed.

One of the key changes is the transformation of the cloud services team itself. Initially, the team acted as gatekeepers, ensuring that the cloud offerings were secure for the organization. However, Ross noted that while security remains a priority, the approach to managing cloud services has evolved. The responsibility model is now more distributed, with other parts of the organization taking on greater roles in cloud management. This has already begun, with cloud services becoming part of the ATO's developer experience branch, a move that took place about three months ago.

Ross highlighted the importance of empowering developers, putting them "in the driving seat" in the cloud space. This shift towards a more self-service model is seen as crucial for fostering innovation and efficiency within the organization. As part of this, the ATO is exploring what self-service looks like in practice and how it can be implemented across the organization.

Another critical aspect of this evolution is the ATO's focus on optimizing cloud consumption and managing costs, which aligns with principles of FinOps—a discipline that brings financial accountability to the variable spend model of cloud computing. Ross pointed out that the ATO is developing a responsibility model for cloud services consumption, aiming to instill a strong focus on optimization and cost management among cloud users.

However, Ross also acknowledged that achieving these goals requires a broader cultural shift within the organization. Many areas within the ATO still operate with an on-premises mindset, and transitioning to a cloud-first approach involves extensive training and a change in mentality. Ross emphasized the need for cloud users to understand their responsibilities and the technologies they are using.

The success of FinOps at the ATO will depend on collaboration across various departments, not just IT. Ross noted that Finance needs to be deeply involved in the process, as effective FinOps requires accurate asset tagging, asset management, and comprehensive reporting. She described this as a "web of responsibility," where success depends on everyone in the organization understanding their role in managing cloud resources efficiently.

Ross concluded by stating that cloud optimization is the "next frontier" for the ATO, building on existing efforts to manage the agency's cloud budget. The focus will be on ensuring transparency in cloud spending, improving the processes and tooling that support cloud management, and fostering a culture where every team member understands their responsibilities in using cloud services effectively. This holistic approach is seen as essential for the ATO to fully realize the benefits of its cloud transformation journey.