1.) IT is becoming commoditized and SaaS is just the beginning of a much larger phenomenon. SaaS is built around segmenting and compartmentalizing and is secure through:
1.) Advanced perimeter security
2.) Application and data integrity
3.) Authorized access (2 and 3 factor)
a. Two factor= Username + IP
b. Three factor= Username + IP + RSA
2.) One study suggested 33% of the government agencies polled were evaluating SaaS, 45% agreed they would embrace SaaS, with 22% not considering SaaS.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
SaaS in Government
I recently attended the SaaS Gov conference. Below are some findings from the event.
Three quick VERY basic definitions. ASP: Traditional COTS apps in a hosted environment. SOA: Any application that when broken down equates to services. SaaS: Essentially, SOA for hire; net centric software offered in a multitenant fashion.
I left with the impression that SaaS, while still young, will grow considerably in the near future. Government has been a bit more reserved in the adoption of SaaS. Security continues to be the major concern for government agencies. Ultimately, education regarding SaaS and multitenancy seems to be what is most needed to achieve a broader adoption. Items such as government employee attrition and constrained budgets are additional catalysts for future adoption. Many government IT leaders see SaaS as the conduit for true government-to-government collaboration with reduced operating costs and increased efficiencies due to reusability and intellectual property sharing between federal, state, and local agencies. An example of the reusability and sharing can be found at the link below.
Government-to-Government Application Exchange
Three quick VERY basic definitions. ASP: Traditional COTS apps in a hosted environment. SOA: Any application that when broken down equates to services. SaaS: Essentially, SOA for hire; net centric software offered in a multitenant fashion.
I left with the impression that SaaS, while still young, will grow considerably in the near future. Government has been a bit more reserved in the adoption of SaaS. Security continues to be the major concern for government agencies. Ultimately, education regarding SaaS and multitenancy seems to be what is most needed to achieve a broader adoption. Items such as government employee attrition and constrained budgets are additional catalysts for future adoption. Many government IT leaders see SaaS as the conduit for true government-to-government collaboration with reduced operating costs and increased efficiencies due to reusability and intellectual property sharing between federal, state, and local agencies. An example of the reusability and sharing can be found at the link below.
Government-to-Government Application Exchange
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
E-Democracy
Steven Clift presented locally last week. I was sorry to miss the event; however he has made the presentation available at the link below.
http://www.dowire.org/notes/?p=391
http://www.dowire.org/notes/?p=391
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
RFID for Inventory Management in Government
Benefits/Risks of Implementing RFID Today
Potential Benefits with RFID Implementation
RFID could help government agencies improve the efficiency of the inventory process when compared to the current paradigm that is barcode tagging. RFID offers increased data storage capabilities, no line-of-sight restrictions, longer read ranges, and simultaneous tag-read capabilities. Furthermore, depending on exact specifications, the technology also affords tag-write capabilities and real-time asset visibility.
Potential Risks with RFID Implementation
RFID implementation has many risks and challenges. The associated costs can be quite prohibitive and make positive ROI estimates difficult to achieve. Integration with the current IT infrastructure (e.g., asset management software, wireless) is a particular point of challenge. There are also questions among some experts regarding the maturity of the RFID industry.
Recommendations
Identify Business Needs and Plan the Architecture to Meet Those Needs
Before any RFID implementation (including a pilot) is carried out, government agencies must specifically address such issues as what items will be tagged, how the data will be collected, where the data will be stored, and how to integrate the system with the current infrastructure.
Too Early for Full Rollout
If RFID can generate significant efficiencies in key business processes then a deployment would seem to be the next step. However, the average government agency that currently uses barcodes for asset management and inventorying purposes might find it risky to implement RFID in the next year. The RFID landscape is rapidly evolving, with hardware and software offerings becoming increasingly robust, and committing to a specific vendor solution at this time might actually be disadvantageous. Additionally, keep in mind Microsoft and Intel have joined forces on a Biztalk RFID approach.
Watch, Prepare, and Adapt
Experts agree it will be at least several years until RFID finds more mainstream application. However, experts also emphasize the importance of keeping abreast of the developments and trends in the industry in preparation for future rollout; participating in pilots is one means to this end. Once the specific needs and required architecture are identified, pilots should be initiated.
Potential Benefits with RFID Implementation
RFID could help government agencies improve the efficiency of the inventory process when compared to the current paradigm that is barcode tagging. RFID offers increased data storage capabilities, no line-of-sight restrictions, longer read ranges, and simultaneous tag-read capabilities. Furthermore, depending on exact specifications, the technology also affords tag-write capabilities and real-time asset visibility.
Potential Risks with RFID Implementation
RFID implementation has many risks and challenges. The associated costs can be quite prohibitive and make positive ROI estimates difficult to achieve. Integration with the current IT infrastructure (e.g., asset management software, wireless) is a particular point of challenge. There are also questions among some experts regarding the maturity of the RFID industry.
Recommendations
Identify Business Needs and Plan the Architecture to Meet Those Needs
Before any RFID implementation (including a pilot) is carried out, government agencies must specifically address such issues as what items will be tagged, how the data will be collected, where the data will be stored, and how to integrate the system with the current infrastructure.
Too Early for Full Rollout
If RFID can generate significant efficiencies in key business processes then a deployment would seem to be the next step. However, the average government agency that currently uses barcodes for asset management and inventorying purposes might find it risky to implement RFID in the next year. The RFID landscape is rapidly evolving, with hardware and software offerings becoming increasingly robust, and committing to a specific vendor solution at this time might actually be disadvantageous. Additionally, keep in mind Microsoft and Intel have joined forces on a Biztalk RFID approach.
Watch, Prepare, and Adapt
Experts agree it will be at least several years until RFID finds more mainstream application. However, experts also emphasize the importance of keeping abreast of the developments and trends in the industry in preparation for future rollout; participating in pilots is one means to this end. Once the specific needs and required architecture are identified, pilots should be initiated.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Technology Benefactors
Recently I have considered how to stress that too many government IT projects are internally focused and not citizen facing. In an effort to identify who benefits from each proposed technology, I started including the graphic below in each concept/technology proposal. My goal is to use this as a basis for suggesting a higher rate of interactive citizen facing systems that will hopefully cross office and agency boundaries.
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