Page 29 - FCW, August 30, 2016

comes to displays, key considerations are how well users can see the screen in direct sunlight and the screen’s scratch- resistance. Other useful features are capacitive multi-touch screens and anti-reflective screens.
Security is Essential
Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents said it was very important for a rugged or semi-rugged device to come with strong security features. That’s hardly surprising. Virtually every study or report about any type of technology in government ranks security as the top concern. It’s such a critical factor that the GSA recently released a Request for Information (RFI) and survey asking the private sector and mobility experts to shed light on the challenges of securing mobile devices and the latest technologies and best practices around mobile security.
NOT IMPORTANT
4%
VERY IMPORTANT
67%
SPONSORED REPORT
Vendor Reputation Matters
In a recent Panasonic survey of federal users, fully
100 percent of respondents said vendor reputation and support was somewhat or very important in their decision of what rugged or semi-rugged devices to buy.
In terms of the devices themselves, that means a long history of quality devices with low failure rates. If the agency has continued to purchase devices from a vendor with whom it is satisfied, that’s generally a good sign the products are working well for the agency.
There are other important factors related to vendor reputation and support, including:
• Deployment services; such as stress-testing, image creation and validation, asset tagging, integrating third-party accessories, disk image management and training
• 24x7x365 support, three-year standard warranty, optional accidental damage coverage and overnight replacements
• Additional data and device protection, including remote device lock and remote deletion of some or all data, dual factor authentication, mobile VPN and mobile device management (MDM) for remotely monitoring, managing and updating mobile devices.
SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT
29%
How important is it that the rugged/semi-rugged device come withstrong security features already included?
Besides implementing and enforcing policies, one of the best ways to ensure data and mobile device security is to choose
a platform with the most strenuous controls for device and personal identification. One of the most critical is a Trusted Platform module (TPM) security chip, which provides a secure and separate storage location for encryption keys and certificates. Other authentication features should include fingerprint and SmartCard readers. To ensure the highest level of security, look for devices compliant with federal standards such as MIS-STD 810F, ISO 14443 types A and B, and ISO 15693.
The threats facing federal users of rugged and semi-rugged mobile devices will evolve, so choosing a vendor proven to evolve with those changes over time is important. Panasonic, for example, introduced the first semi-rugged Toughbook in 1996. This was designed to withstand drops, humidity and dust. It introduced the first fully rugged Toughbook in 1999. As needs changed, it developed the first Toughbook convertible tablet in 2003. To keep up with speed and productivity requirements, it
introduced the first dual-core tablet Toughbook in 2006 and one with dedicated graphics and active cooling in 2010.
Panasonic continues its march forward, introducing a fully rugged detachable notebook earlier this year. This Windows 10 Pro-based combination tablet/notebook runs on a 6th generation Intel Core vPro processor. It has a glove-enabled touchscreen, webcam, vehicle mount and desktop port replicator, and hot-swap capabilities to ensure continuous operation. Other options include 4G LTE and GPS.
Evolution will continue, not only to meet changing security threats and federal standards, but also to keep pace with changing mission priorities and technology advances. Deloitte, in its “Future of Government 2020” report, predicts mobile technology will become more flexible, with 5G networks improving user experience and leading to lower latency. It also predicts mobile M2M technology will become more ubiquitous, which will help mobile users transmit data on the go. Finally, the Deloitte report sees wearable technology becoming more prevalent. These devices will be powered by smart chips and taking the form of everything from watches to glasses.
For more information, please visit toughbookterritory.com/fedcivilian.