helping the public sector get mobile with windows...

Helping the public sector get mobile with Windows 8

www.microsoft.com/uk/COIT

Microsoft UK, 2013


While mobile workers and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon are of enormous potential value to public sector organisations, the trend also requires efforts to minimise security risks and cut overall costs while maximising the benefit of introducing more mobile devices. Windows 8 is designed with these challenges in mind. It helps public sector organisations extend security-enhanced, controlled access to information and applications from virtually anywhere while simplifying application and resource management.

The vast majority of public sector desktops and laptops run Windows operating systems and are used to access information and services on a daily basis. However, government organisations today are confronted with a tough challenge. On the one hand the workforce is populated by users keen to use different, sometimes own-brought devices rather than traditional technology. At the same time employees may be burdened with a plethora of devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops and remote access tokens, as well as their personal devices.

Simultaneously public sector organisations must ensure their staff, information and data remain secure at all times. The proliferation of devices and increasing adoption of BYOD all present significant challenges and many departments are now facing the quandary of either fostering a mobile, but insecure workforce or settling for a very secure, but very immobile workforce. Neither on its own is going to satisfy the needs of a public sector mobile knowledge worker, who needs to be both mobile and secure.

Introduction

Mobile workers and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon are of enormous potential value to public sector organisations.



Users are now more experienced in IT than ever before. They expect faster, more intuitive technology, uninterrupted services and freedom to work anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

The culture of work is changing. Users are now more experienced in IT than ever before. They expect faster, more intuitive technology, uninterrupted services and freedom to work anytime, anywhere, and on any device. With different generations in the workforce, people increasingly have unique needs based on their roles and preferences. Broadly speaking, the public sector workforce can be divided into three user groups:

Task Worker - A Task Worker typically performs a small number of dedicated processing tasks from a trusted location. For example, users who work in a contact centre or back office processing role, such as PAYE. Their day-to-day tasks involve capturing key information from customers, which is then used by other workers to decide on a course of action.

Knowledge Worker - Knowledge workers primarily use rich productivity tools, such as email and word processing, to perform core business activities from a fixed office location. Examples of knowledge workers might include policy workers and managers.

Field worker - Pure ‘knowledge workers’ who use generic productivity tools such as word processing and email to perform core activities in a number of locations as well as offline. They have little or no reliance on line of business applications and need their IT devices and data to be available on the move. They are the inverse of the Task Workers. Examples of mobile knowledge workers might include senior managers, policy workers or consultants.

Mobile and task worker



The recent rise in alleged state-sponsored cyber-attacks has highlighted the increasing importance of protecting both public sector organisations and the data they create, use and store. However, any public sector organisation – from local councils to healthcare – is also at risk from accidental loss, or deliberate theft. Mobile knowledge workers are a good example of a user who is redefining the traditional government technology boundaries. They are not tied a specific location and are usually totally mobile, requiring access to systems and processes from a variety of devices and locations.

From power-on to power-off, Windows 8 provides a more secure foundation regardless of where mobile knowledge workers chose to work. Windows 8 Trusted Boot protects data from cyber-attacks with enhanced malware and rootkit protection technology and reduces risks with sophisticated Measured Boot and Bitlocker encryption technologies. Virtual Smart Cards reduce the need for physical smart cards and readers for PCs, saving money, and IT help desk time.

Security at its foundations

Mobile knowledge workers are a good example of a user who is redefining the traditional government technology boundaries.



As the NHS and other public sector organisations become more connected and less siloed, more information is available to more people more of the time. Patient data is shared across departments, hospitals and nationally. For example, new players are entering the market and the private sector is beginning to assume more control of some areas of the sector. Different technology and systems are being built, integrated and retired. In this new world data flows more easily and more readily than ever before and as such citizen or patient privacy is paramount.

Tools such as Rights Management allow Windows 8 users to control which departments can access what data. For example, in the NHS patient information is held securely and accessed only by those in specific user groups. Dynamic Access Control, introduced with Windows Server 2012, complements this by allowing server-side control over which devices and users can access which information. So, for example, a user can access all of their information from a managed business-provided device, but only a subset from an own-brought device.

Who can see what?

As the NHS and other public sector organisations become more connected and less siloed, more information is available to more people more of the time.



Windows 8 enables employees to work from virtually anywhere, providing the organisation with greater ability to ensure continuity of operations and employees with greater flexibility.

Rarely tied to their desks, mobile knowledge workers are constantly out and about, handling and editing multiple documents on the move. They perform core activities at multiple locations and times using a variety of devices. As such, they demand access to secure a VPN and offline documentation as standard.

Windows 8 enables employees to work from virtually anywhere, providing the organisation with greater ability to ensure continuity of operations and employees with greater flexibility. At the same time it is important that business-critical information does not reside solely on users’ devices. SkyDrive Pro (formerly SharePoint workspaces) and modern Office mean corporate repositories can be made available offline securely, with synchronisation happening transparently to the user.

On the go, all the time



Mobile knowledge workers, arguably the heart of any government workforce, are redefining the boundaries of public sector technology.

And for BYOD adopters, IT can still provide them with support and enforce security using Windows Intune – integrated with System Center to give a ‘single pane of glass’ view of all devices in use across the organisation, whether business-provided or their own device.

Windows 8 comes with a suite of tools such as Lync, Sharepoint and Windows To Go, which are all aimed at helping mobile knowledge workers remain secure and productive while on the move. Windows 8 is manageable with familiar System Center products, so there is no need for separate Mobile Device Management (MDM) software and agencies can enable employee mobility while decreasing risk, saving money and leveraging what they own.

Always on



A day in the life of a mobile knowledge worker on Windows 8


9am – Fiona is an HR manager in the government department dealing with work and pensions, leading a team of six HR assistants and overseeing the HR needs for a department of 250 people across London. She arrives at her desk having grabbed a coffee and starts to go through her emails. She uses OneNote to make a list of things she needs to do for the day and checks her meeting schedule on Outlook.

10am – Fiona has been working on a new internal recruitment policy for her department which tightens up the ways in which candidates are vetted. She wants to run it past her line manager, the HR director, for his thoughts, but is conscious that new policy sits within a much larger, image-heavy document which may be too large to send via email. She decides to upload it to her SkyDrive and send the link to her manager, allowing him to read and edit it online without the need to download it to his local system.

11am – After a desk-based start to the day, Fiona faces a day of meetings and visits. She leaves the office and catches a bus to Whitehall for her first appointment. On the way she logs onto a free WiFi service to check her emails. Windows 8 comes with Windows To Go and DirectAccess, as well as inbuilt security tools, such as BitLocker, meaning she can surf away securely and safe in the knowledge that her confidential information is safe.



11.45am – She’s at her first meeting with a team of other HR managers from across the department. They are discussing recruitment policies and Fiona is keen to illustrate the new policy that she’s been working on. However, not everyone in the room has the clearance needed to access the document. She uses Windows 8’s Rights Management tool to ensure that only those with the appropriate security credentials can access the documents she wants to share. 1pm – Fiona is on site at a local office in North London. One of her employees is concerned that her device has been compromised by a friend using it without her knowledge to download music. Fiona logs onto her device using her Windows To Go USB stick and checks through the file history. She can see that tools like Trusted Boot have prevented the employee’s device from cyber-attacks and malware. She advises her to use Windows To Go until the system is safe.

3pm – Another site visit, this time in South London. Fiona is visiting a fellow HR manager in another government department to share some best practice tips. Unfortunately the WiFi connection has gone down so Fiona cannot access the new policies she has drawn up in her SkyDrive. However, using Windows 8 features such as BrancheCache and Windows Server 2012, her content is stored locally meaning she doesn’t require connectivity.

5pm – The end of a long and busy day. Fiona hasn’t completed everything on her OneNote to do list so she decides to work from home tomorrow. She speaks to someone in IT and they arrange for her to have an encrypted USB stick loaded with Windows To Go, enabling her to log on from home securely.

The current trends of BYOD and mobility offer many new opportunities for governments, but also more than a few challenges. Mobile knowledge workers, arguably the heart of any government workforce, are redefining the boundaries of public sector technology. They require mobile, user-friendly, secure systems that they can use on the move from multiple locations. Windows 8 provides a comprehensive portfolio of solutions that directly answers these needs and others, helping governments cut costs, minimise risk and enhance the service they provide to citizens.

Not only does Windows 8 help address the technology needs and challenges of industry, where organisations have made recent investments in a modern Windows desktop infrastructure, it will fit alongside and complement that investment.

Conclusion

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