Federal Tech Talk with John Gilroy interviews Jeff Ait, Director of Public Sector for Good Technology. Listen to the WFED 1500AM radio interview.
Meritalk completed a study that showed smartphones used by the government will go from 35% today to 43% in 2013. This if forcing federal IT professionals to have a good working knowledge of best practices for managing these devices.
Jeff Ait suggests that, instead of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), agencies should consider BYOP (Bring Your Own Policy). Policy issues should be at the crux of a deployment strategy. For example, if an employee-owned tablet breaks while doing federal work, who is responsible to replace it?
Jeffrey Ait, Good Technology
A great example of examining how to deploy mobile devices comes from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Currently, they are testing a deployment of 1,000 iPads for clinicians. This is an excellent test because of the rigorous security requirements inherent in collecting healthcare data. The system they choose to test the management of these devices is from Good Technology.
They have encountered several issues that will be common when other agencies begin managing the proliferation of tablets: Can the device expand into the existing system? What kind of devices should be accepted? What kind of a mobile device management system to use?
Good Technology has been in business since 1996 and earned its stripes with the ability to manage Blackberry mobile phones. They use a method that some classify as “push” email. During the interview, Jeff explains how a server can control access to information on the mobile device. Their enterprise product not only allows for remote wipe, but can selectively remove information from a portable device – especially valuable to federal workers using their own tablets.
ARMATURE provides services for data collection and analysis with a focus on conformity assessment, risk compliance, accreditation and quality assurance. If you seek information on utilizing mobile devices for data collection, read Chad Baker’s blog: From the Clipboard to the Tablet: Onsite Visits for Educational Accreditors.
ARMATURE’s John Gilroy hosts a weekly radio show on Federal News Radio, appears regularly as “The Computer Guy” on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, and is an experienced platform speaker. Read thought-provoking comments on the technology industry at John’s blog.
