VA cautiously deploys consumer-based technology

The U.S. Department of Veterans affairs recently answered calls to provide its employees with the latest technology when it announced a deployment of about 1,000 iPhones and iPads. But, according to a recent Federal News Radio report, the government agency is taking an extremely cautious approach to consumerization.

Under its mobile device management strategy, the deployment of Apple products will serve as a pilot program for consumer-based technology. Until this point, the government organization had shied away from deploying such mobile devices given the sensitive health information accessed and utilized by many VA employees.

Even now, those who receive the iPhones and iPads will only enjoy limited access to the VA network, which assistant secretary for information technology and chief information officer Roger Baker said will make the devices only slightly better than the BlackBerry employees are used to. Currently, the VA has a BlackBerry deployment of 17,000 units.

Use of the iPhones and iPads will be watched closely, Baker told Federal News Radio, and the pilot period will determine if more devices will be deployed.

"At this introduction point, it's not going to have dramatic effect," he told the news provider. "For what you can do with it right now, it's only somewhat more useable than the other mobile devices we've had in our infrastructure. It will have the same level of encryption, but you will be able to access our information gateway that is more viewable."

Cost is one thing that could inevitably stall the deployment of more consumer-based products, according to the report. As with all government agencies, the VA is working with strict wireless expense management considerations in mind.

Complicating the issue is how the devices are viewed. For example, Baker said, laptops can be seen as either medical devices or IT devices within the VA. Whichever category they fall under - depending on their use - determines how they are paid for.

"We've had to go through and look at - for everything we buy - the purpose for it," he said. "If it's medical, then it's bought out of the medical appropriation. If it's IT, then it's bought out of the IT appropriation."

The VA certainly isn't alone in entering a new world of enterprise mobility. According to expert Dion Hinchcliffe, the use of Apple's iOS mobile operating system and Android from Google is catching up to BlackBerry at most enterprises.