GovConExec: Thomas Harvey, Leaders Highlight BYOD Benefits And Security Concerns
Thomas Harvey, AT&T Government Solutions
Agencies and organizations alike see a potential for increased productively, cost savings and job satisfaction as a result of mobility, government contracting executives said in GovConExec‘s spring magazine issue.
Each issue includes a section where leaders hone in on the hot topics industry and government face, whether it be the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, C4ISR or mobility.
Agencies and contractors are rapidly moving toward using more mobile devices in the workspace, bringing to mind the familiar, but somewhat unstructured practice of employees bringing their device to work.
Thomas Harvey, a senior vice president at AT&T Government Solutions, told GovConExec in FedTech SoundOff that BYOD has driven many information technology departments into uncharted waters.
Harvey said organizations can no longer ignore the trend, especially as Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel prepares to put out a government mobility policy.
CIOs will face security and privacy concerns when organizations begin to adopt BYOD more and more, requiring a balance between accessing secure data on devices and employees accessing personal information and applications, Harvey said.
J. Patrick Burke, SRA International SVP for intelligence, homeland security, and special operations, told GovConExec that with the consumerization of devices, the convergence of business and personal computing results in a workforce that is always on.
Allowing employees to use personal devices offers potential for operational utility, convenience and eventually cost savings.
However, the devices present significant security concerns that could be an enterprise-compromising rave, Burke said.
Burke explained to GovConExec that BYOD is in no way a one-size-fits-all operation.
Instead, it is an incremental, evolutionary journey that should include piloting devices and developing policies and procedures that pay heed to security, compliance and legal ramifications.
There are a number of mobile solutions that provide firewalls to to extend existing enterprise and network security policies across heterogeneous mobile platforms, Burke said.
Burke told GovConExec that few mobile applications can replace an entire enterprise legacy application and a wholesale migration to mobile computing will not happen overnight.
Oceus Networks President and CEO Douglas Smith said with emerging technologies, organizations have to ensure they’re complying with standards to enable full interoperability and security.
Smith told GovConExec his firm is seeing an increasing demand on network infrastructure as a result of mobility and higher data transport requirements.
Since the network delivers the services to the device, Oceus focuses on creating networks that are fully reliable and secure at all times.
He said the government industry should focus on mobile solutions that allow such services.
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