The Impact of Consumerization of IT on the Public Sector
Industry Perspective
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The Impact of Consumerization of IT on the Public Sector
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In this report, Bruce Michelson, Distinguished Technologist at HP, highlights how the consumerization of IT is transforming the public sector workforce, and making the ability to work anywhere, anytime, on any device a reality for government employees.
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The Impact of Consumerization of IT on the Public Sector
he consumerization of IT is a trend that has not been taken lightly within government. With the speed at which technology changes, new devices, strategies and technologies have emerged in the workplace. For instance, a computer in the early 1970s was a device that could fill an entire office. Today, 130 million Americans carry around smartphones with the same or greater computing power of a 1970s computer in their pockets. Not surprisingly, those same 130 million Americans want to bring those devices to work and access resources anytime, anywhere. Not only have these new tools sparked interest in transforming the way society engages and communicates, government agencies are seeking to leverage emerging devices for new business efficiencies and to stream-
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line operations. Government employees want to use their smartphones and tablets at work for business functions across all levels of government. This trend is only increasing for IT departments, who are now looking at ways to safely and securely provide the infrastructure needed to support the consumerization of IT. The Digital Government Strategy, which was released in August of 2012, advises agencies to safely and securely adopt mobile technology. Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel unveiled his vision for Digital Government, and one of the key mandates was the ability for government workers to be able to work anywhere, anytime, and on any device. The mandate is a lofty goal considering the enormous challenge of securing, managing and protecting consumer devices
in the workplace, but the Digital Government Strategy is an important step forward to encourage federal agencies to implement emerging technologies. In light of policy shifts like the Digital Government Strategy, agencies are asking: how do we implement these changes methodically and responsibly, and how will the consumerization of IT continue to affect agencies going forward? In this report, Bruce Michelson, a Distinguished Technologist at HP, will explore the changing IT landscape, offer insights on how the consumerization of IT is forcing agencies to consider Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), and explain how mobility is transforming the public sector.
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What is Consumerization of IT? In many ways, the definition of consumerization of IT parallels that of a Rorschach test - everybody sees the ink blots in a different context. In this report, Michelson defines the consumerization of IT as “getting the back office IT infrastructure prepared to be device-agnostic.” The goal is simple, organizations need to provide access to the end user in a safe, secure, networked way. Michelson adds that, “what defines consumerization is not BYOD or mobility, but building an infrastructure that can support BYOD or mobility.”
3 Opportunities with Consumerization of IT “Thirty percent of people check their work email before they go to sleep at night. A typical Facebook user looks at Facebook no less than 14 times a day,” notes Michelson. These statistics show that the consumerization of IT is happening whether organizations are ready or not. As a result, organizations must adapt and prepare for this new reality. This is not just because of perceived risks, but also because there are noteworthy benefits that they will want to leverage for business improvement. Below are three opportunities that consumerization of IT presents for agencies. Cultural Impact Budget cuts, pay freezes, and sequestration have driven overall government employee satisfaction to record lows.The Office of Personnel Management’s annual Federal Viewpoint Survey found employee satisfaction down five percent in the past year. One way agencies have proven to boost morale is to integrate the consumerization of IT. Michelson adds, “The perception that the end users get to choose their own device, get to be agile, and get to use
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cool technologies shouldn’t be underestimated.” When so much of what is happening in agencies these days feels as if it is out of an employee’s control, enabling personnel to select the kind of device that makes them most comfortable and productive goes a long way toward improving morale and mission achievement. The agencies that scored the highest on the survey, NASA and the State Department, both integrate tablets and smartphones into their agency culture. The ability to integrate these new technologies gives employees a feeling of empowerment and innovation. According to the survey, only 31% of federal employees felt empowered to be innovative at their agency, while respondents from NASA scored over 70%. The cultural impact of these devices cannot be overlooked. Access - Work on the Go! Field workers have often been saddled with cumbersome paper files and limited access to agency data. The emergence of mobile devices enables government employees to stay connected anywhere. Take the Air Force, for example. Last year they purchased 18,000 tablets to replace heavy flight bags with light and efficient tablets. The flight bags often weighed more than 40 pounds and contained the flight plan and other navigational materials. Now all of the flight plan information is condensed into one device, and can be easily accessed by Air Force personnel. Agility The Census Bureau is one of the most diverse and field-driven agencies in the government. Now they are trying to connect their employees and the public using tablets. The goal is to become more efficient in collecting Census data. Census is develop-
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ing new mobile applications so fieldworkers can use tablets to collect information instead of filing tedious paperwork. That is a new level of agility for the agency, and will improve reporting accuracy and efficiency. Michelson says this kind of agility is key because then, “IT is not seen as an inhibitor, but as an enabler.” Those are three good reasons to welcome the consumerization of IT; however, moving to these innovative technologies does present risks. Three risks are identified below.
would ever happen because of security and management issues. Michelson says the typical end user, “will access the IT infrastructure from four to five different devices.” This has led to many challenges for government agencies. Michelson noted that a lot of agencies ‘just say no’ to consumerization of IT. The problem is that, “saying no doesn’t work because people will do it anyway.” Rather than not allowing it, the best posture for an agency is to learn about resource needs and current behavior, then adjust policies to account for this impact on the workplace without compromising security. That’s why it is important to identify the potentials risks and build policies that address them in advance. Michelson suggested that there are three core challenges: cybersecurity, data security and an undefined legal environment. Cyber Security
3 Core Challenges Presented by the Consumerization of IT One of the things forcing the consumerization of IT is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). GovLoop’s recent guide, Exploring the Role of Bring Your Own Device in the Public Sector, found that over 40% of feds use their personal phones to access their work email. That number is staggering since just a few years ago most people wouldn’t have predicted this
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One of the core challenges for IT professionals related to BYOD is retaining security. Agencies are challenged to retain security because, in many instances, technology has outpaced security and governance policies by leaps and bounds. GovLoop conducted a survey of feds who use BYOD and found that 80% of respondents did not have a formal BYOD program at their agency. This trend cannot be overlooked and Michelson says the primary mission of IT is still governance. “You can’t sacrifice governance because of an indiscrete trend, you have to find ways to embrace it.” He continues, “We are still managing from a governance policy process procedure acquisition standpoint. Which means that we are managing devices that didn’t exist five years ago the same way we manage desktops and laptops. So there is no wonder there are so many security breaches.” Evidence that security is a core challenge for government is easy to find. The Government Account-
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ability Office estimated that cyber attacks on agencies were up a staggering 782%. “All you have to do is look at the headlines to know that government agencies have been targeted by hacktivists. The only answer is to step up our investment in governance,” states Michelson. The Obama administration has taken note of the risks to cyber security, releasing an Executive Order – Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. The February Executive Order called for an increased level of collaboration between the public and private sectors. Another option to mitigate risks is implementing tiered service levels.The tiered service level security system means different people have different levels of access on devices. For example a senior executive may be able to download financial information to a tablet, while entry-level employees could simply access their email. Additionally, a tiered approach is in response to the ineffective ‘one-size-fits-all’ security approach. Michelson states, “It used to be thought that one size standardization across an entire enterprise was the best deal according to the cost-risk analysis. Now it’s really user segmentation. It is alignment of devices, costs, risks and service level. Michelson stresses that this is a shift in both practice and culture. “Everything we’ve been taught about IT is standardization, standardization, standardization. Now we’re being asked to do just the opposite. Now we’re being asked to take risks and to do things that aren’t in our DNA and from us in IT, it’s an extraordinarily uncomfortable scenario but it’s one we’ve got to get our arms around and move forward.” Although cyber risks are a reality, agencies cannot adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards personal devices in the workplace. There are many benefits to implementing BYOD, and defining proper governance policies is one way to protect against this risk.
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Data Security In 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs filed 2.7 million medical claims. In April, the laptop of one VA employee was stolen which compromised the security of 7,000 Veterans waiting on disability claims. One laptop equaled 7,000 security risks. However, the risks don’t seem to be stopping the desire for devices. Michelson notes that the very devices from which people have their identity stolen are the ones that want to bring them to work. So how do you protect the data while still ensuring accessibility? “BYOD is a lot more complicated than just taking the buzzwords and ‘make it so’, as Captain Picard would say. It’s about building an infrastructure.” Of course, the VA is not alone when it comes to agencies keeping track of their devices:
2M 113 56%
Two million laptops get lost or go missing get at TSA stations and 97% of them are never recovered
113 cellphones go missing every minute and 25% of smart phones are lost or broken and need a replacement every 12 months
56% of us on a monthly basis call our cells to figure out where we put our cell phones at home
The key to perfecting an organization’s infrastructure is to prepare a short and long term ecosystem. Michelson notes, “eco-systems are based
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upon what is required for a specific technology, not focused necessarily on the business as a whole.” When looking at an eco-system these might be logical questions to ask:
Michelson adds that the officers were given corporate-issued mobile devices, which basically means that they were on call 24/7. Now the question is: does that qualify for overtime?
What is the full investment required? Michelson says, “Right now BYOD is not a cost saver. Devices at this point are companion pieces, so you have to factor in the cost of the device, the cost to secure it, govern it and exploit it.”
This question is one of many in a rapidly developing legal environment. For government agencies, they must be cautious of the shifting legal landscape, and understand the legal risks while implementing any kind of initiative created from the consumerization of IT.
How long is this eco-system relevant? Eco-systems need to have the same level of control that corporate owned devices have today. Having an end user become a focal point for governance seems to be an element worthy of discussion. Can the eco-system leverage existing investments? An Undefined Legal Environment If you are accessible anytime, anywhere on any device – do you get overtime if you answer emails at 10 pm? There is a fascinating case right now in Chicago that addresses this very issue. Chicago police Sgt. Jeffrey Allen filed a lawsuit in 2010 claiming that the city owes him and fellow officers overtime pay for work performed on department BlackBerry phones. The city gave Allen a BlackBerry when he worked in a unit determining which assets of criminal’s police could seize. Susan Prince, an attorney with Business and Legal Resources, says the deciding factor in this dispute is likely to be the Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs wage and overtime provisions for American workers.
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The Future of Consumerization The pace of technology is staggeringly fast and there is no indication that it will slow down anytime soon, so predicting the future is murky at best. However, Michelson says, “Organizations are taking a pause right now to reassess. There is more of a holistic rush to build the backend infrastructure because people have seen enough about BYOD and consumerization to know that the old rules simply won’t apply to the new technology.” The trend of consumerization of IT is unlikely to go away, and agencies must be ready and create infrastructures that are device, service, and tool agnostic. In doing so, agencies can leverage emerging consumer technology to facilitate increased employee engagement, new found business efficiencies, and create a modern and agile government infrastructure.
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About HP
About GovLoop
HP’s global Government Affairs team builds relationships with key officials around the world to discuss emerging issues, understand their thinking, offer HP’s unique expertise and insight, and describe the company’s positions. We are committed to active participation in the global public policy dialogue in accordance with laws and our Standards of Business Conduct. As a leading technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally, HP focuses on public policies that maximize the ability of individuals and companies to innovate, benefit people’s daily lives and strengthen the global economy. As such, HP’s policy priorities are built on its two policy platforms - Innovation/Competitiveness and Environment - that support an economy based on innovation as the key to sustainable growth. We are members of national and regional trade and industry associations in virtually every country where we have a significant presence.
GovLoop’s mission is to “connect government to improve government.” We aim to inspire public sector professionals by serving as the knowledge network for government. GovLoop connects more than 65,000 members, fostering cross-government collaboration, solving common problems and advancing government careers. GovLoop is headquartered in Washington D.C. with a team of dedicated professionals who share a commitment to connect and improve government. For more information about this report, please reach out to Emily Jarvis, Online Editor, GovLoop, at emily@govloop.com, or follow her on twitter: @ emichellejarvis. GovLoop 734 15th St NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 407-7421 Fax: (202) 407-7501 Twitter: @GovLoop
Additional information can be found at http://government.hp.com.
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