Analysis Document

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Analysis Document
Task 4 Analysis of Telework Scalability
March 21, 2006
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Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Key Telework Components / Solutions
• Scalability and Gap Analysis
• Findings Conclusions

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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

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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)

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Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Key Telework Components / Solutions
• Scalability and Gap Analysis
• Findings Conclusions

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A structured approach was used to analyze the
federal governments ability to expand the
infrastructures supporting telework
Data Sources
Surveys of Teleworkers and Managers of Teleworkers
Focus Groups with Agency Telework Coordinators
Identify Key Components for Telework Expansion
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 governments 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

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The studys approach and methodology provides an
estimate of the federal governments 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 agencys 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

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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

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

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Key Telework Components / Solutions
• Scalability and Gap Analysis
• Findings Conclusions

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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

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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

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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

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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 (OMBs 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

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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

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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 teleworkers home line
  is freed up for voice and data communications

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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

• 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

Comparison of Cable/DSL to Dial-Up Data Transfer
Data transfer under ideal conditions, protocol
overhead and other impairments can more than
double transfer times
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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 teleworkers responsibilities for maintaining
  their equipment and software and what are the
  organizations 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

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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

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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
  organizations communications
• Provides tool to monitor usage to perform
  capacity planning
• Help enforce the organizations electronic
  policies and procedures such as records
  management and appropriate use rules

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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
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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 teleworkers
  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

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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
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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
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Access to enterprise applications and
administrative functions are critical to a full
scale telework program
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Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Key Telework Components / Solutions
• Scalability and Gap Analysis
• Findings Conclusions

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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

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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
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
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As shown in Scenario A, very few organizations
are currently able to support a full-scale
telework program
Scenario A (2 of 20 Agencies)

• 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
30
Scenario B organizations have existing enterprise
infrastructures capable of supporting key
telework functions
Scenario B (8 of 20 Agencies)

• 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
31
As indicated by Scenario C, the lack of mobile
communications and PC / peripheral support can
impact telework expansion
Scenario C (3 of 20 Agencies)

• 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
32
Scenario D organizations should focus on
providing basic capabilities before considering
telework expansion
Scenario D (5 of 20 Agencies)

• 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
33
As seen in Scenario E, some agencies have no
infrastructure or resources currently in place to
support teleworking
Scenario E (2 of 20 Agencies)

• 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
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Network infrastructures and the ability to scale
resources and support for expanded telework
programs vary across the federal government
All necessary Home Office, Services, and
Enterprise components are provided to support
teleworking, including some enhanced capabilities
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
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
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Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Key Telework Components / Solutions
• Scalability and Gap Analysis
• Findings Conclusions

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To expand telework to a significant number of the
organizations 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

37
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 teleworkers
  alternate site, security barriers to telework can
  be mitigated

38
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 organizations 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