Feds can learn about telework from small business

Can the federal government learn about the necessary wireless tools for telework by examining the needs of small business? If you consider that mobile working includes intra-office, local travel, long-distance travel and telecommuting, then the needs are the same.

“And many of these types of tools come from the consumer world rather than the enterprise world,” writes small business expert Steve Hilton of the Yankee Group in Information Week.

Hilton said the best telework solutions improve both mobility and collaboration and should include blogs, wikis, smart phones, wireless Web active directory-enabled laptops, and instant messaging.

In March, Federal News Radio reported that Federal CIO Vivek Kundra wants to give federal workers a $2,000 subsidy to buy their own devices to use for work.

Although some agency heads like the idea, there could be problems with cybersecurity -- protecting feds' mobile devices.