A survey of state government CIOs has revealed a variety of interesting tidbits: oversight of large IT projects is still evolving, as 52 percent said their efforts were only somewhat effective; only 47 percent say they’ve documented the effectiveness of their cyber-security programs with metrics and testing; and that 77 percent say a lack of funding is a major barrier in addressing cyber-security.
The survey, conducted online by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), TechAmerica, and Grant Thornton LLP, represents 54 NASCIO member states and territories who completed the survey.
I’d like to delve into one area, mobility. Mobile devices, and the programs, policies, applications and security to support them, are top of mind for everyone. IT leaders are in the throes of rapidly changing mobile environments within their organizations. Employees are asking for BYOD programs while at the same time forging ahead and using their own smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices whether or not organizations have policies and practices in place.
State CIOs appear to have the same intense focus on mobility. According to the survey, almost one-third of them consider mobile devices and apps to be an essential part of their strategic IT agenda, and the other two-thirds consider mobile devices and apps a high priority (these findings are consistent with what state CIOs said in previous years).
But there’s still a struggle. Consider that 10 percent consider their state is managing mobility in a totally fragmented and uncoordinated way (compared with 12 percent in previous years). A much larger percentage — 49 percent — say they have a few coordinated projects and initiatives, but most are fragmented efforts. Positively, 37 percent say they have mostly coordinated government-wide projects and initiatives and a few fragmented efforts (compared with 32 percent the previous year). But none say all their mobility projects are well coordinated government-wide.
With such a fast-moving trend as mobility, it can be hard to keep up. But fragmented efforts inevitably lead to gaps in service, and even more worrisome, holes in security.
I’m curious. How would you rate your own organization’s mobility efforts? Let me know in the comments below.