(read Part 2 of this series)
Mobile technology is now making significant strides in government IT. Agencies are investing in enterprise mobile software in order to accelerate internal processes and improve communication and service delivery for US citizens. According to a survey done by AOL Government, nearly two thirds of respondents say their agencies have deployed a mobile website or application in the past year. If enabled to perform their jobs "anywhere, anytime," employees have the potential to recapture at least 7 hours per week of productivity that is typically lost. Mobility increases Federal agency effectiveness by keeping agency processes moving outside of the office.
However, as much potential as mobile technology offers, federal mobility is facing setbacks primarily due to concerns with security and budget. According to a survey done by Mobile Work Exchange, 73% of those surveyed stated security as their top concern. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies enable greater flexibility and mobility for agencies, but also provide a target for cybercriminals. Appian's mobile BPM is designed for work in high security environments, with safeguards like encryption and minimal data storage on the device.
The other main concern when dealing with mobility is budget: 60% of AOL's Government Mobility survey respondents indicated that their budget is not sufficient to meet the needs, and 54% responded that budgets would have to increase significantly. The reason is that developing and supporting mobile versions of enterprise applications across all mobile device platforms requires enormous resource investments. Most agencies simply do not have the budget to enact a comprehensive mobile app strategy.
Appian delivers a radically new approach to mobility that eliminates the resource strain. Through Appian's "write once, deploy anywhere" design architecture, mobile developers can take advantage of drag-and-drop design tools to create single applications that are then automatically and natively rendered across all popular mobile devices.
The result is a low-cost route to achieving 21st Century digital government. Productivity savings come through secured mobile access to data and processes so employees can work effectively even when they're not in the office. For example, the State of Ohio Office of Budget and Management developed a complete mobile business continuity/disaster recovery application on the Appian platform in just a few weeks, replacing its paper-based process and bulky binders with a modern solution. According to Raj Subramania, Ohio OBM CIO, "It's a huge change as far as improving the process because now we can truly say we have information about how to take care of a disaster anywhere anytime."
The world never stops and neither should the government. Being able to respond to any situation from anywhere needs to be a high priority. Appian's native mobile apps are available on every major mobile operating system, delivering BPM capabilities that are accessible from anywhere. Learn more about Appian's Mobile BPM.
Ben Farrell
Director of Corporate Communications
Ben Farrell
