Governments looking to adopt new communication technologies for public service should make sure they are buying products that are modular, scalable and widely compatible, IBM Federal General Manager Anne Altman writes for Federal Times.

Altman cautioned agencies against purchasing “dead end” software that could potentially end collaboration between federal agencies instead of encouraging it.

She noted that early adoption into cloud environments may be forcing some enterprises into using “proprietary, closed and often more expensive methods of computing.”

Having open standards is one way forward, according to Altman.

“To make government data available for a wide variety of applications and initiatives, the many clouds used by each government entity must first be able to communicate with and interact with one another,” Altman said.

“The more standardization we have, the better government agencies will be able to integrate and innovate across clouds and collaborate.”