Making the U.S. Government More Efficient!

From the front lines in the war on terror to the census worker who may come knocking on your door, mobile technology is helping to enhance communications, increase efficiency, and eliminate paperwork. As with the private sector, the government is being transformed through the adoption of mobile and wireless technologies. Although this type of change can be difficult and painful, many government agencies are finding ways to improve their operations and processes with handheld devices without breaking their budgets or driving their employees to distraction.

Messaging in the mainstream

During the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 many on Capitol Hill found their mobile phones unusable as cellular networks were overloaded. Since BlackBerries continued to function through the crisis, Congress subsequently ordered Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry devices for all members and many staffers in order to guarantee reliable communications during national emergencies. While certainly not the first government deployment of wireless messaging devices, it added significant momentum to the trend. Mobility has now been adopted across most Federal agencies.

When RIM was nearly shut down in 2005 by a patent-infringement suit Congress attempted to intervene against a potential RIM injunction. Even though the case was settled before the injunction was enforced, the situation raised many concerns about the government's dependence on a single company (based in Canada, for that matter) for mobile messaging hardware, software, and infrastructure.

With the release of Windows Mobile 5.0 and Direct Push Technology, Microsoft appears to be gaining momentum with the government. While only a few agencies have switched outright from BlackBerries to Windows Mobile, most have begun to run Windows Mobile as a parallel or alternative messaging platform.

Steve Ruga, a Program Manager in the Department of Homeland Security who oversees a deployment of 4,500 Windows-based devices explained; "The overall cost savings and the similarity between the desktop and mobile experience was the primary driving factor behind our selection of Windows Mobile." The consistency of the mobile platform to the desktop environment made it much easier to train and support the agents in the field, who use the devices primarily for e-mail.

According to the analyst firm IDC, RIM currently dominates the mobile e-mail market, but competitive forces are converging for a powerful attack on their market share. The firm predicts that Windows Mobile-based devices will have a 32.3% market share by 2010, and that organizations will be especially attracted to Windows-powered devices due to their direct integration with Microsoft Exchange Server. Even more optimistically, analyst Helen Daley of Forrester Research estimates that Microsoft may garner as much as 60% of the market by 2010.

Census Bureau Deploys 500,000 Devices

While wireless e-mail is very beneficial, the most dramatic value of government mobility revolves around accessing, capturing, and analyzing data. In this arena, RIM's strength may also be its biggest weakness. While much of its popularity is based on its ease of use for wireless e-mail, the underlying architecture and limited design of the BlackBerry prevents it from being capable of running complex data-crunching applications.

When the U.S. Census Bureau came to recognize the incredible value of capturing mobile data at the point of origin, they turned to the private sector for a solution. When the bids came in, each of the final three vendors had proposed a Windows Mobile-based system. Even though the bureau already had a very significant BlackBerry-based infrastructure, the RIM devices could not compete for data-driven applications. The capability and scalability of the Microsoft platform, as well as the rich and powerful development environment, is simply the best option for data-driven applications.