# Presentation: 664924

## Task 3

**Task 3**
**Agency Telework Ready Status**

- February 15, 2006

## Table Of Contents

**Table Of Contents**

- Introduction
- Methodology
- Assessment of Readiness Factors
- Home Office
- Services
- Enterprise
- Findings & Conclusions

## This report presents the current ability of federal agencies to support teleworking

- This report is the second of a series of reports that are part of the Telework Technology Cost Study
- Describe the current federal telework technology environment
- Estimate the costs of expanding telework supporting technologies so the infrastructure can support 25% to 50% of the federal workforce teleworking
- Provide recommendations on how best to expand the telework related infrastructure to support more teleworkers

- Based on interviews, surveys, and focus groups of federal IT staff and Telework Coordinators this report assesses federal organizations’ ability to fully support teleworkers
- This report will describe the extent to which Federal organizations currently have the technology infrastructure needed to support telework

## Information was collected from several sources in sixteen organizations that were chosen to be representative of the entire Federal Government

- The Booz Allen team conducted interviews, focus groups, and surveys of Chief Information Officer staff, Telework Program Coordinators, Teleworkers, and Managers of Teleworkers, respectively
- Ten Departments participated in the study:
- Department of Agriculture				  Department of Interior
- Department of Commerce				  Department of Justice
- Department of Education 				  Department of Transportation
- Department of Health and Human Services		  Department of the Treasury
- Department of Housing and Urban Development		  Department of Veterans Affairs
- Five Independent Agencies and one Departmental Component also participated in the study:
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission		  National Science Foundation
- General Services Administration			  Securities And Exchange Commission
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration		  U. S. Coast Guard  (Department of 							     Homeland Security)
***Not all organizations participated in the interviews, focus groups, and surveys***

## Table Of Contents

**Table Of Contents**

- Introduction
- Methodology
- Assessment of Readiness Factors
- Home Office
- Services
- Enterprise
- Findings & Conclusions

## This report identified the key technologies that are needed to support the typical teleworker and evaluated each organization’s “readiness”, or provision of these key technologies

- Reviewed data collected from interviews, focus groups, and survey for each organization_ _
- Determined key technology factors required for telework “readiness”
- Evaluate each organization’s support of key “readiness” factors
- Defined three levels of readiness for each of these key readiness factors

- Documented analysis of each organization’s support of key technologies
- Assigned readiness rating to each organization on a per factor and overall basis
- Prepared report on the federal readiness status

**Data Sources**

- Administered surveys to teleworkers and managers of teleworkers in 14 out of the 16 agencies participating in the study*
- Received valid responses from 6,784 teleworkers and 1,540 managers of teleworkers+
- Collected information about telework technology availability, usage, and performance

**Surveys of Teleworkers and Managers of Teleworkers**

**Focus Groups with Agency Telework Coordinators**

**Interviews with Agency CIO Staff**

- Conducted focus groups with Telework Program Coordinators and other telework management staff in 15 out of the 16 agencies participating in the study*
- Collected information about_ _telework program history and current state, technology issues, policy issues, and plans for expansion

- Conducted interviews with CIOs and other IT staff members in 20 organizations (headquarters offices and/or components of 15 out of the 16 agencies participating in the study)*
- Collected information about_ _the current status of the telework infrastructure and plans for enhancement

**Evaluation of Agency Provision of Technologies**

**Analysis of Readiness**

## A variety of technologies that support teleworkers were evaluated to determine the key factors involved in agency telework readiness

- Mobile resources
- Laptop computers/mobile telephones
- Mobile telecommunications services
- Remote access to applications
- Application access hardware and software
- Client software for accessing enterprise applications
- Modems and remote access servers
- Terminal servers/Web Applications
- Security hardware and software
- Authentication devices/PKI software (includes biometric devices)
- Firewalls/hubs
- Virtual Private Networks
- Collaboration and communication resources
- Collaboration software
- Broadband and dial-up resources
- Conference services
- Technical support services
- Help desk

_**Categories of Telework Technology**_

_**How Technologies Support Telework**_

## Because of the study’s approach and methodology, this report on telework readiness is representative of all government agencies

- The multi-method approach to this study was designed to collect information from three data sources, which are complementary and lead to a comprehensive understanding of the issues
- When information is missing from one data source, information from the other data sources is available to compensate
- Many of the CIO interviews provided information about specific components, rather than the overall agencies
- However, the agency-wide data from surveys and focus groups round out this information and enable the team to develop broad findings that are representative of the government
- The Booz Allen team followed a structured process to assess agency telework readiness
- Reviewed information about current agency infrastructures, derived primarily from interviews, surveys, and focus groups conducted for the study
- Identified the factors that are critical for agency readiness to support telework with full consideration of all study information as well as Booz Allen expertise
- Defined three levels of readiness (see slides that follow) for each of these key readiness factors, which are visually represented by Harvey Balls (               )

## This report presents an evaluation of each agency’s readiness on each of the factors

- The team made basic assumptions in developing this report
- A basic set of technology capabilities is needed for telework, such as reliable computer equipment, secure access to agency information, and telecommunication capabilities
- The range of telework arrangements and associated readiness factors derived from the study’s data sources is similar to telework issues found government-wide
- Following the overall study framework, the readiness factors are presented in three categories:  home office, services, and enterprise
- Within each of these categories, readiness factors are defined and the readiness of each agency is assessed on a three-point scale
- There are three general readiness levels used in the report:  “Minimal” indicates that the factor is minimally addressed; “Partial” indicates that the factor is partially addressed, and “Full” indicates that the factor is fully addressed.
- The specific ratings are defined in more detail for each factor

## Fifteen factors were identified as critical for agency readiness to support telework

| Home Office | Services | Enterprise |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PC Support | Data Communications | Secure Access Resources |
| Application Access | Voice Communications | Application Access Resources |
| Security Resources | Teleconference Communications | Access to Administrative Functions |
| Peripheral Support
 | Technical Training Support | Remote Email Access |
|  | Help Desk Support | Collaboration Resources |

**Agencies were rated against these factors, using the definitions and readiness levels presented in the next three sub-sections**

## Table Of Contents

**Table Of Contents**

- Introduction
- Methodology
- Assessment of Readiness Factors
- Home Office
- Services
- Enterprise
- Findings & Conclusions

## The home office needs to provide the same access to applications as in the office and appropriate security of the organization’s data 

| Factors | Description | Readiness Levels | Level |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PC Support | A computer with software and resources appropriate for job  functions | No computer provided for teleworker: Minimal.
Reutilized computer provided or only some teleworkers are provided equipment: Partial.
One computer provided for work and home or one for each: Full. |  |
| Application Access | Software and resources that support access to enterprise applications | No client remote access software provided for teleworker: Minimal.
Some local software and client remote access software provided: Partial.
All appropriate local and remote application software provided: Full. |  |
| Security Resources | Security resources to protect home computer including virus protection, firewall resources, virtual private network, and backup resources | No security resources provided: Minimal.
VPN client software provided but not virus protection and firewall resources: Partial.
Virus protection, firewall resources, and VPN software provided to teleworker: Full. |  |
| Peripheral Support | Printers/Facsimile/Copier equipment provided | No additional peripherals are provided: Minimal.
Not all needed peripherals are provided or staff are not fully reimbursed for peripherals needed: Partial.
Teleworkers are provided additional peripherals needed: Full. |  |

## The amount of support for a teleworker’s home office is usually made at the individual component or office level

- The majority of the time, teleworkers provide their own home office equipment,
- However, teleworkers are often provided security resources and application software for their home environment
- Sometimes teleworkers are provided “refreshed” office equipment, which was replaced with newer equipment in the office, to use at their home office
- While some isolated components within larger agencies are actively supporting teleworkers, the majority of teleworkers get by with whatever equipment they can obtain for their home environment
- The client software for VPN services and for some applications is not an additional cost item for the organization, so it can be distributed widely
- To support disabled workers the Computer/Electronic Accommodation Program (CAP) devices can be added to standard teleworker home office equipment

## Only a handful of organizations provide teleworkers with all of the resources needed to carry out their job functions at home 

- *Ratings based on CIO Interviews only

## Table Of Contents

**Table Of Contents**

- Introduction
- Methodology
- Assessment of Readiness Factors
- Home Office
- Services
- Enterprise
- Findings & Conclusions

## For teleworkers to be effective, the organization needs to provide the appropriate telecommunications resources and technical support 

| Factors | Description | Readiness Levels | Level |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Data Communications | Data communications resources (e.g., Internet access) are provided the teleworker to securely access organization applications and data and so the teleworker can communicate with coworkers | No data communications resources are provided teleworkers in their home: Minimal.
Teleworkers are partially reimbursed for data telecommunications resources in the home: Partial.
Teleworkers are fully reimbursed for data telecommunications resources: Full. |  |
| Voice Communications | Teleworkers are provided mobile or landline voice communications allowing coworkers and customers to easily reach the teleworker | No voice communications services are provided: Minimal.
Landline voice communications services are provided: Partial.
Mobile voice communications services are provided: Full. |  |
| Teleconference Communications | Teleconference services are available to teleworkers, so they can easily setup a teleconference from home to collaborate with coworkers or customers | No teleconference services are provided: Minimal.
Limited teleconference services are provided: Partial.
Full teleconference services are provided and teleworkers can setup teleconferences on short notice: Full. |  |
| Technical Training Support | Technical training on technology used for telework is provided | No telework technical training is provided: Minimal.
Technical training provided but not specific to telework: Partial.
Telework technical training is available: Full. |  |
| Help Desk Support | Help Desk services are available to teleworkers whenever needed and the help desk is trained to support teleworkers. | No help desk resources are available: Minimal.
Help desk resources are available, but personnel are not specifically trained on telework issues: Partial.
Help desk resources are available, and personnel are specifically trained on telework issues: Full. |  |

**For teleworkers to be effective, the organization needs to provide the appropriate telecommunications resources and technical support **

## Telecommunications services and technical support are typically provided by the organization, regardless of its level of telework support

- Only a limited number of agencies and offices within organizations provide data communications services to teleworkers
- Organizations typically provide mobile voice and data services (e.g. PDAs) to the organization’s leadership, technical support staff, and others that require mobile communications as part of their job such as field staff.  If teleworkers job function doesn’t require mobile voice communications they have to typically submit justification for mobile communications
- All organizations provide some level of audio teleconferencing services to its staff
- Technical training is provided by most organizations particularly in the area of security, but through this study’s surveys and focus groups, teleworkers indicated they would like to receive more telework-specific training
- Most organizations have help desk support, but not all help desk staff are trained to deal with teleworker-specific technical problems

## The majority of organizations provide support and teleconference services to their teleworkers, but typically only provide voice and data communications services to select staff

- *Ratings based on CIO Interviews only

## Table Of Contents

**Table Of Contents**

- Introduction
- Methodology
- Assessment of Readiness Factors
- Home Office
- Services
- Enterprise
- Findings & Conclusions

## Teleworkers need secure remote access to the office applications and administrative functions in order to carry out their job duties

| Factors | Description | Readiness Levels | Level |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Secure Access Resources | Infrastructure (hardware and software) enables secure remote access to the enterprise.  This includes equipment that provides an interface to the Internet, virtual private network systems, firewalls, and remote control software | No secure remote access resources are available: Minimal.
Limited secure remote access resources are available: Partial.
Access resources provide availability to enterprise applications similar to workers in the office: Full. |  |
| Application Access Resources | The organization’s applications such as case management, database, procurement, and financial systems are available remotely through client/server, web or terminal interfaces | No access to enterprise applications is available: Minimal.
Limited access to enterprise applications is available: Partial.
Full access to enterprise applications is available: Full. |  |
| Access to Administrative Functions | The capability to perform administrative functions such as time cards, expense reports, travel planning, reporting, assessments, and requests for support services can be performed remotely | No remote access to administrative functions: Minimal.
Limited remote access to administrative functions: Partial.
Full remote access to administrative functions: Full. |  |
| Remote Email Access | The enterprise email system is accessible remotely | There is no remote access to email: Minimal.
There is only access to email through a trusted link: Partial.
There is access to email though an untrusted link and through a trusted link: Full. |  |
| Collaboration Resources | Resources such as instant messaging, document sharing/collaboration, and virtual meeting tools are available to teleworkers | No collaboration resources are available: Minimal.
Limited collaboration resources: Partial.
Full access to collaboration resources: Full. |  |

## While most organizations provide secure remote access to the headquarters IT infrastructure, many applications have yet to be designed for remote access 

- Almost all organizations have implemented secure remote access resources such as remote dial-up, Internet access, and secure virtual private networks
- Most organizations are still migrating key enterprise applications to remote accessible interfaces such as web services and terminal access resources
- Many organizations still use paper-based administrative services, such as time and attendance reporting, that require teleworkers to come into the office to complete their administrative responsibilities
- Most organizations’ email systems are accessible either through a web browser or by using secure virtual private network resources
- For the few organizations who are using them, collaboration resources such as document sharing tools, desktop video conferencing, and web conferencing are still in the pilot phase

## While all organizations provide teleworkers secure access to the enterprise and provide access to email, most have yet to provide teleworkers remote access to all of the applications and administrative functions they need

- *Ratings based on CIO interviews only

## Table Of Contents

**Table Of Contents**

- Introduction
- Methodology
- Assessment of Readiness Factors
- Home Office
- Services
- Enterprise
- Findings & Conclusions

## Three of the organizations studied fully support telework, while the remaining 17 currently provide varying levels of support

- The agency factor ratings were converted to a numeric system (0, 50, and 100), then averaged to derive the ratings presented below; see the Appendix for more detail

- *Ratings based on CIO interviews only

## Most organizations do not provide their teleworkers the same access to agency applications and data and technical support as their office workers impacting their ability to perform all of their job duties

- While teleworkers are typically as productive if not more productive than office workers most organizations need to provide additional support to teleworkers with their home office, telecommunications services, help desk support, training, and remote access to agency applications and data for teleworkers to perform all of their job duties effectively
- Currently, the majority of staff that frequently telework are using their own equipment at home, which creates several important issues
- Makes it difficult to provide technical support and to quickly resolve problems
- Creates security issues
- Makes it difficult for the organization to make changes to the enterprise infrastructure
- Makes expanding telework programs more difficult
- Because of the increasing size and amount of data that is shared within an organization broadband Internet access is becoming increasingly important to successful telework, organizations must ensure that teleworkers have access to it
- More teleworkers need access to voice communications services that allow coworkers and managers to easily communicate with teleworkers

## Most organizations do not provide their teleworkers the same access to agency applications and data and technical support as their office workers impacting their ability to perform all of their job duties (cont.)

- Typically, an organization’s existing telecommunications and help desk services are being used to support telework as well
- While this dual-use situation represents cost savings for agencies, the specific needs of teleworkers must still be addressed to ensure these services are effective
- Help desk and training of teleworkers could be improved with small telework focused additions to the help desk training and telework training programs
- The migration of enterprise applications and administrative functions to remote accessible interfaces has been beneficial to telework, and it should continue to occur to improve the efficiency of teleworkers and the rest of the organization
- Collaboration facilities should be more fully embraced by the federal government to improve communications with teleworkers and throughout the federal government
- Most, if not all, agencies fall short of incorporating telework into overall strategic IT planning
- Therefore, the support for telework programs varies widely across agencies
- In general, agencies that have embraced technology trends and created an infrastructure more conducive to remote work have, incidentally, created an environment that is supportive of telework

## Appendix – Detailed numeric agency ratings

|   |   | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Home Office | PC Support | 50 | 50 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Application Access | 50 | 50 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 0 |
|  | Security Facilities | 50 | 50 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Peripheral Support | 50 | 50 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
|   | Home Office Average | 50 | 50 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 38 | 38 | 38 |
| Services | Data Communications | 50 | 50 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
|  | Voice Communications | 50 | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Teleconference Communications | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Technical Training Support | 50 | 50 | 100 | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Help Desk Support | 50 | 50 | 100 | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|   | Services Average | 60 | 60 | 100 | 50 | 30 | 60 | 60 | 40 | 40 | 50 |
| Enterprise | Secure Access Facilities | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 50 |
|  | Application Access Facilities | 50 | 50 | 100 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 0 |
|  | Access to Administrative Functions | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
|  | Remote Email Access | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 50 | 100 | 50 | 100 |
|  | Collaboration Facilities | 0 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|   | Enterprise Average | 50 | 60 | 90 | 50 | 50 | 60 | 50 | 50 | 40 | 40 |
|   | Overall Readiness | 53 | 57 | 97 | 33 | 27 | 57 | 53 | 43 | 39 | 43 |

## Appendix – Detailed numeric agency ratings (cont.)

|   |   | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Home Office | PC Support | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 100 |
|  | Application Access | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 100 |
|  | Security Facilities | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 100 |
|  | Peripheral Support | 50 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
|   | Home Office Average | 50 | 88 | 50 | 38 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 38 | 50 | 100 |
| Services | Data Communications | 50 | 100 | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Voice Communications | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Teleconference Communications | 50 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 100 |
|  | Technical Training Support | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 100 |
|  | Help Desk Support | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 100 |
|   | Services Average | 50 | 90 | 60 | 50 | 60 | 60 | 50 | 40 | 50 | 80 |
| Enterprise | Secure Access Facilities | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 50 | 100 |
|  | Application Access Facilities | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 |   | 100 |
|  | Access to Administrative Functions | 100 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 |   | 100 |
|  | Remote Email Access | 50 | 100 | 50 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
|  | Collaboration Facilities | 0 | 0 | 50 | 100 | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 |   | 50 |
|   | Enterprise Average | 60 | 80 | 60 | 80 | 80 | 60 | 60 | 50 | 50 | 80 |
|   | Overall Readiness | 53 | 86 | 57 | 56 | 63 | 57 | 53 | 43 | 50 | 87 |