Analysis Document

Analysis Document Task 4 Analysis of Telework Scalability March 21, 2006

Table Of Contents Introduction Methodology Key Telework Components / Solutions Scalability and Gap Analysis Findings & Conclusions

This report presents the infrastructure and other resources needed for a large telework expansion and the ability of government agencies to support this expansion • This report on Analysis of Scalability is the fourth in a series of reports that are part of the Telework Technology Cost Study • The overall study has three primary objectives • 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, this report assesses federal organizations’ ability to scale network infrastructures to support 25% to 50% of the workforce teleworking • This report will describe potential barriers that must be overcome, the network resources required for Federal organizations to more easily scale telework participation across the workforce, and the organizational benefits that can be achieved by such infrastructure enhancement

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)

Analysis & Results A structured approach was used to analyze the federal government’s ability to expand the infrastructures supporting telework Data Sources Surveys of Teleworkers and Managers of Teleworkers Identify Key Components for Telework Expansion Focus Groups with Agency Telework Coordinators Scalability and Gap Analysis Interviews with Agency CIO Staff • Defined the technical components for “basic” and “ideal” telework support, based on industry standards and best practices • Based on current infrastructures in place, executed gap analysis to identify the additional components required to meet the basic and ideal solutions in each scenario • Reviewed findings to develop overall conclusions about federal government’s ability to successfully expand teleworking • Reviewed agency information from the three data sources to identify key components for telework expansion • Identified common themes and potential barriers affecting the ability to scale telework infrastructure • Grouped the 20 organizations into five common scenarios, based on commonalities in their current telework infrastructures • Conducted interviews with CIOs and other IT staff members in 20 organizations (headquarters offices and/or components of the 16 agencies participating in the study) • Collected information about the current status of the telework infrastructure and plans for enhancement • 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 • 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

The study’s approach and methodology provides an estimate of the federal government’s telework technology scalability • 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 department • However, the organization-wide data from surveys and focus groups round out this information and enable the development of broad findings that are representative of the government • The Booz Allen team followed a structured process to analyze scalability for telework expansion • Reviewed information about current agency infrastructures, derived primarily from interviews, surveys, and focus groups conducted for the study • Assessed agency’s current ability to scale telework expansion by identifying potential technology barriers • Based on data gathering from the federal government and from industry best practices this study has identified basic telework technologies required to telework and additional technologies that would provide teleworkers an ideal telework environment

The evaluation assessed federal organizations’ ability to expand teleworking infrastructure to support more of their workforce • In order to assess the ability of an agency to expand teleworking, the current infrastructure was analyzed in three areas: home office, services, and enterprise • Potential barriers were identified that directly impact telework expansion • Basic and ideal telework solutions were defined to baseline and identify key components / services required at the home office and enterprise to support telework expansion • Agencies were grouped into five different scenarios based on technology support currently provided to teleworkers • A gap analysis was performed to identify the missing components and technologies required within each scenario to meet the requirements for the basic and ideal telework solution • The output of the gap analysis was used to provide recommendations for each scenario on how to expand technology to support more teleworkers • Finally, conclusions are provided about government agency capabilities to meet the basic and ideal solutions, and thus, enhance their abilities to scale infrastructure to support expanded telework programs

The key technologies that support telework fall into three areas: Home Office, Services, and Enterprise

To expand telework, some basic technologies are needed by most teleworkers to work effectively in their home or alternate work location • A home computer is key to perform typical office activities and to access enterprise applications • Access to enterprise applications and administrative functions is key to perform job duties • Voice communications are key for teleworkers to maintain effective working relationships with coworkers, managers, and customers • Teleconferencing services allow the teleworker to participate in voice conferences with colleagues or other organizations • Mobile communications equipment accelerate communications within the office by providing immediate access to the teleworker regardless of location • Due to increasing file sizes and enhanced applications, broadband access is also key to effective job performance • Help desk and troubleshooting support is important to get the teleworkers’ failing equipment and software operational again as quickly as possible • Peripheral equipment similar to what is available in the office help the teleworker perform their duties as if they were in the office

A federal government provided computer is key for most teleworkers to perform their job duties at home and to protect sensitive federal data • To perform job duties most federal workers, particularly knowledge workers, need a computer with appropriate software to perform their job • While a computer at the office and one at home would save teleworkers from having to carry their computer back and forth between home and office, there are two key issues associated with this: • Computers for staff are among the largest expenses associated with telework, so a two computer solution would substantially increase the cost of telework • It is difficult with two computers to keep both computers populated with all the latest files that the staff member is working on • The best solution for most organizations is to provide a laptop and an appropriate carrying case to protect the computer and the staff member carrying the computer from injury • Use of non-government computers creates security and diagnostic concerns: • Security issues due to lack of organizational control or authority over the computer, including: no control over the software configurations, no access control over federal data, and no procedural control over all potential users of the computer • Difficult for help desks to diagnose problems on non-standard computer configurations • Slow deployment of updates due to non-standard configurations

Office Servers Internet Teleworker Home Computer Access to enterprise applications and administrative functions is important for effective telework performance • While staff with computers can perform local applications such as word processing or data analysis of information stored on the home office computer, access to enterprise applications is also required • Increased access to enterprise applications broadens the range of work activities that can be performed by teleworkers, which becomes more critical as staff increase the number of days they telework • The study found that key legacy applications were often not accessible to teleworkers • Security mechanisms prevent access outside the enterprise • Applications do not operate properly over the Internet because of performance problems or the data communications protocol used to access the application is not compatible with the Internet • Application is partially or fully paper based or requires an original signature

Ways to make key applications accessible to teleworkers include redesign of the application, using existing government applications, or implementing commercial off-the-shelf applications • While converting key applications can be expensive, the modernized applications benefit the entire organization • Standard user interfaces such as a web browser interface reduces staff training time • Applications designed to be independent of location are more adaptable to changes in the organization and more easily support staff wherever they are located • Applications designed to be independent of location support contingency situations • Implementing a thin client solution for applications reduces bandwidth requirements to support teleworkers and provides additional protection for organization data • With thin client, the remote computer only receives the screens from the application but the data stays with the central server. Once the session, is completed the remote client does not retain any data • Easier to maintain remote computer because fewer software refreshes are required • Instead of converting legacy applications to make them remotely accessible, organizations can take advantage of remotely accessible application services provided by other federal organizations to minimize costs and risks (OMB’s Centers of Excellence Program) • Finding commercial applications that can be customized to fit the needs of the organization can reduce maintenance costs and provide a way to modernize existing key applications with lower risks

Reliable voice communication services are key for teleworkers to be successful and to stay connected to their colleagues, managers, and other organizations • Voice communication is still one of the most important forms of communication • Greater ability to convey complex information more efficiently • Greater ability to clear up any misunderstandings in real time • Greater ability to convey emotion and other critical contextual cues between people • The ability to communicate via telephone is beneficial to teleworkers and their colleagues • The ability to reach teleworkers by telephone helps overcome some of the stigma of being out of the office • A second telephone line or mobile telephone is needed for voice communications if the teleworker uses the only telephone line available to connect to the Internet • Teleworkers need either calling cards or another facility to make long-distance telephone calls

Teleconferencing services and mobile communications are valuable alternatives for teleworkers to quickly collaborate with colleagues across the organization • Teleconferencing services can be provided by internal organizations or by third parties and teleworkers can take advantage of facilities available to the entire organization • The ability of the teleworker to be able to setup their own teleconferences quickly and efficiently is important for collaboration with other team members • Mobile communications are critical for ensuring constant contact if the teleworker spends most of the workday away from the office or away from the alternate work site • Mobile communications help overcome the stigma of teleworkers being out of sight because they provide quick reliable access to the teleworker • By providing a teleworker with mobile communication devices, the teleworker’s home line is freed up for voice and data communications

Access to broadband is important for teleworkers due to the increasing size of data files and the development of new applications that take advantage of telecommunications infrastructure Comparison of Cable/DSL to Dial-Up Data Transfer * • Broadband access is much faster and more efficient than dial-up and is becoming increasingly available to residential users • Emails with attachments are frequently larger than a Megabyte, particularly if they contain graphical content, resulting in lengthy download times for teleworkers with dial-up access • Broadband circuits have the capacity to support new telecommunication capabilities such as VoIP, video streaming, and collaboration, which are inaccessible over dial-up access due to limited bandwidth • Study found most organizations do not reimburse staff for broadband access. If the government would contract directly with carriers for broadband service it would provide more efficient billing and providing teleworkers business class service * Data transfer under ideal conditions, protocol overhead and other impairments can more than double transfer times

It is important that the help desk and others that support the IT infrastructure are trained to handle the unique technical needs of the teleworkers • To keep teleworkers operating efficiently, it is important that support staff have appropriate training for issues unique to teleworkers • Clear policies need to be outlined about what are the teleworker’s responsibilities for maintaining their equipment and software and what are the organization’s responsibilities • The organization needs to decide if teleworkers are required to bring in failing equipment or if the organization should develop procedures for quickly getting replacement equipment shipped to the teleworker at their home or alternate work location • While the study found most staff are receiving training that is beneficial for telework, the study found that organizations were not providing technical training specific to teleworkers’ needs

The more days a week staff telework, the more they need the same types of office equipment they have in their office, such as printers and copiers • Certain job responsibilities require the use of peripheral devices, such as printers, copiers, or faxes to effectively perform job duties • Combined printer/facsimile/copier devices are available simplifying maintenance and reducing the amount of desk space required in the home office • Appropriate supplies such as paper and toner cartridges for the peripherals also need to be provided to the teleworker

To expand telework, ideally, collaboration tools should be provided to improve communication throughout the organization • Collaboration tools can accelerate communication within an organization • Instant messaging makes it easier to contact staff and get decisions made quickly • Sharing of calendars makes it easier to schedule meetings • File sharing tools facilitate collaboration on documents • Teams that are geographically separated particularly benefit from collaboration tools whether team members are teleworkers or not • Enterprise class collaboration applications should be used • Provide improved security and privacy of an organization’s communications • Provides tool to monitor usage to perform capacity planning • Help enforce the organization’s electronic policies and procedures such as records management and appropriate use rules

The Agency Telework Ready Status, Task 3, found that most organizations do not provide the suite of resources that teleworkers need The remainder of this section presents more detail about each technical component

Basic and ideal solutions have been defined to determine the scalability of agency telework infrastructures • The basic and ideal telework solutions are based on commercial and federal best practices that define components and services required at the home office and enterprise levels • Both solutions provide consistent application access for the teleworker through an always-on, secure, and centrally managed connection to the network that essentially makes the teleworker’s home office an extension of the enterprise • The basic solution includes key components and services that allow teleworkers to efficiently perform their job duties • Government covers all hardware and services costs except for broadband access • Sufficient voice and data resources are provided for effective communication with the enterprise and external clients • The ideal solution not only includes the basic components, but provides enhanced services and tools to help increase network performance and the kinds of work teleworkers can accomplish • Government covers all hardware and services costs; no cost to teleworker • Fully redundant systems (no single points of failure) and connectivity architectures provide operational resilience and disaster recovery benefits • Use of collaboration tools and technologies can be a more efficient means of communication while also lowering costs for traditional voice technologies

Home Office Enterprise Services The home office infrastructure should closely resemble the work office environment • *Only one of the 2 options needs to be provided for remote telephone communications equipment

Home Office Enterprise Services Good telecommunications facilities and telework support, improve teleworkers’ performance and their ability to telework 3 OPTIONS • *Only one of the 3 options needs to be provided for telephone communications access

Home Office Enterprise Services Access to enterprise applications and administrative functions are critical to a full scale telework program

The organizations that participated in the study were grouped into 5 scenarios based on how much additional infrastructure was required to provide the basic and ideal telework IT environment • Scenario A organizations provide basic telework infrastructure including home office support, services, and enterprise access, but additional IT infrastructure is required to bring them up to the ideal environment • Scenario B organizations provide some basic telework infrastructure including some home office support and services and full enterprise access. However additional IT infrastructure is required to provide all basic and ideal telework technologies to teleworkers • Scenario C organizations provide some basic telework infrastructure including some home office support, services, and enterprise access. However additional IT infrastructure is required to provide all basic and ideal telework technologies to teleworkers • Scenario D organizations provide a few basic telework infrastructure components and services for the home office but limited if any enterprise access. Substantial IT infrastructure improvements are required to provide basic and ideal telework technologies to teleworkers • Scenario E organizations provide few if any basic telework infrastructure, so significant IT infrastructure improvements will be required to provide basic and ideal telework technologies to teleworkers

The dot indicates where each scenario falls based on the defined Basic and Ideal telework solutions. For each of the scenarios, a gap analysis was conducted to: • Establish the infrastructure currently in place (including Home Office, Services, and Enterprise components) • Determine the additional infrastructure components required to meet the defined Basic solution to support teleworking • Determine the additional infrastructure components required to meet the defined Ideal solution to support teleworking SAMPLE Each scenario includes varying levels of infrastructure, resources, access, and support to expand or scale current teleworking capabilities For each scenario the gaps have been identified and the components needed to enhance the telework infrastructure to provide the Basic and Ideal Telework Environment

Ideal Basic Scenario A (2 of 20 Agencies) As shown in Scenario A, very few organizations are currently able to support a full-scale telework program • Infrastructure, resources, access, and support in place to support full-scale telework program • Agency covers all associated costs * Includes components indicated in Basic Solution Gap Analysis

Ideal Basic Scenario B (8 of 20 Agencies) Scenario B organizations have existing enterprise infrastructures capable of supporting key telework functions • Infrastructure in place to support large scale telework program • Sufficient resources, enterprise access, and support available • Agency covers some associated costs * Includes components indicated in Basic Solution Gap Analysis

Ideal Basic Scenario C (3 of 20 Agencies) As indicated by Scenario C, the lack of mobile communications and PC / peripheral support can impact telework expansion • Infrastructure in place to support existing telework program • Limited resources and enterprise access available • Agency covers no costs * Includes components indicated in Basic Solution Gap Analysis

Ideal Basic Scenario D (5 of 20 Agencies) Scenario D organizations should focus on providing basic capabilities before considering telework expansion • Infrastructure in place to support minimal telework program • Limited or no resources and enterprise access available • Agency covers no costs * Includes components indicated in Basic Solution Gap Analysis

Ideal Basic Scenario E (2 of 20 Agencies) As seen in Scenario E, some agencies have no infrastructure or resources currently in place to support teleworking • Minimal Infrastructure, in place to support teleworking • Critical resources and support not available • Agency covers no costs * Includes components indicated in Basic Solution Gap Analysis

All necessary Home Office, Services, and Enterprise components are provided to support teleworking, including some enhanced capabilities Ideal Ideal Ideal Ideal Ideal Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Critical Home Office, Services, and Enterprise components available to support teleworking LEVEL OF ADDITIONAL HOME OFFICE, SERVICES, AND ENTERPRISE COMPONENTS REQUIRED Minimal Services and Enterprise components available to support teleworking ; No Home Office resources or support available Scenario C Scenario A Scenario D Scenario B Scenario E Network infrastructures and the ability to scale resources and support for expanded telework programs vary across the federal government *A measure of costs and difficulties associated with implementation, e.g., a rating of “High” indicates low cost/difficulty to implement, “Low” indicates high cost/difficulty to implement

To expand telework to a significant number of the organization’s staff (25-50%), the organization needs to be able to provide basic telework infrastructure to its teleworkers • While a few federal organizations provide all the basic telework technologies needed to its teleworkers, many organizations provide only some of the technologies. Teleworkers either provide the rest of the technologies themselves or do without them, thereby making expansion of telework programs difficult beyond the most enthusiastic supporters of telework • Teleworkers need secure remote access to their job-related applications and to administrative functions to be most effective at their alternate work location. The study found organizations have made different levels of progress towards providing access to applications outside the enterprise • A PC loaded with the appropriate software, data communications support, security mechanisms, and peripherals is one of the most important items for helping teleworkers be effective in their alternate work location, but many teleworkers are still using old equipment or personal equipment • Voice communication services are still key for teleworkers to be part of the team. These services can be provided by extra telephone lines, mobile communications devices, or through VoIP facilities. Most organizations provide some voice services to some of their staff • A help desk trained in telework issues is important to keep teleworkers operating efficiently. Almost all organizations have a help desk but many do not have adequate training in telework issues • Broadband communication services are important because of the amount of data most teleworkers need to process. Most teleworkers are not currently provided broadband by their organization

To reduce barriers to telework, in addition to basic telework technologies services, additional technologies are needed • Enterprise level collaboration services accelerate communications between team members particularly between members that are not located at the same location, but because enterprise level collaboration services are relatively new, few organizations have fully implemented them • Mobile communication devices provide quick access to teleworkers, thereby making teleworkers readily and reliably available to their managers and their team members, overcoming some of the stigma of them being out of the office • Much of the data handled by federal workers is sensitive, so by enhancing security both at the enterprise level and at the teleworker’s alternate site, security barriers to telework can be mitigated

There are several factors that impact the ability of organizations to expand their telework technology programs; these factors are different for different agencies/offices within an organization • The organization’s size and number of remote offices • The level of support from executive management • The complexity and expense of making key legacy applications accessible to teleworkers with the appropriate performance and security • The ability of telework technology enhancement to meet other organization priorities and missions outside of telework • The complexity and expense of modifying existing contracts to provide the appropriate technical and repair support to teleworkers • The expense of providing appropriate telecommunications services to teleworkers • The ability of telework technology to allow staff to perform their job duties at alternate locations, e.g., doctors/nurses, janitors, prison guards

Analysis Document