Government Technology - October 2008 - (Page 34)

records management editing privileges. The site permits users to make documents public by publishing them as Web pages or posting them to a blog. Google’s Rochelle said the collaboration portion of the applications is what makes a difference. “That is what varies significantly and lets people turn the corner on productivity,” he said. When documents need to be edited or proofed by multiple people, online document management allows smooth transitions. “The problem with attachments and e-mails is that they really just proliferate versions,” Rochelle said. “The first difference really is in the singleversion control. There is a single place where this document lives, many people can edit and access it, and it’s all online in one version. You can get prior versions as they are edited, but there’s literally one document.” Rochelle said Google Docs is secure through a single sign on and, unless a user makes a document public, documents are only shared with the people specifically invited to view or edit them. Google Apps Team Edition might benefit organizations that need a custom e-mail address and an intranet system, in addition to the other services provided. Applications included are: Google Talk; Google Docs; Google Calendar, for arranging meetings and coordinating schedules; a start page; and Google Sites, group Web sites for sharing information. Agencies looking for further customization can now add programs onto the spreadsheet application. “One of the things we launched recently was gadgets in Docs, which is specifically meant for spreadsheets right now, but we could see that expanding,” Rochelle said. “That allows people to write specific thirdparty programs that actually allow them to visualize and see their data and interact with their information in Docs in their own way.” “One of the real secrets to Acrobat.com, and to practically all of our online services How Safe Is Your Data? that we’re making available, is the fact that Online document management sites we’re leveraging Flash Player,” said Bobby seem like an attractive option, but how Caudill, government solutions manager of secure are they? Adobe. “Regardless of where you are in the Dan Lohrmann, chief information world, regardless of who you are in the world, security ofﬁcer of Michigan, said you pretty much have the technology already most government security experts are on your machine to be able to leverage the reluctant to use these sites for storing services that we’re making available.” essential information. The main concern Adobe’s online word processor, Buzzword, is putting important data outside of the allows real-time collaboration, and users can government’s control. be given full editing, comment-only or read“I think the challenge that people feel only privileges. is for mission-critical information; you ConnectNow, a Web conferencing tool, don’t know where it is,” Lohrmann said. lets users create a meeting room and sup“With no serviceports audio and visual communication, level agreement remote screen control and screen sharing, [SLA] or no level among other features. In the complimenof control over tary version, only three people can meet where data is at once. Organizations seeking a wider being stored, it implementation might consider purchasdoesn’t provide ing Acrobat Connect Standard or Acrobat the controls that Connect Pro, in which users are granted 5 you need.” GB of space and can share documents with He said the an unlimited number of people. situation is “As of right now, the physical security Dan Lohrmann similar to requiris handled all by Adobe,” Caudill said, ing employees “so we certainly take the physical secuwho work remotely to use governmentrity very seriously.” owned laptops instead of their home The online security runs in an encrypted PCs. “Once it’s outside our jurisdiction, session, and currently a user name and passwe have no control over that, and the word are required to sign on. “But at some point, problem becomes how then do you I could see us being able to strengthen that and track it, how can you conﬁrm that there harden it down some more,” Caudill said. was not a breach when it’s not in your control?” he said. Still, online document storage and management has plenty of potential, he said. Another option available to governments “I think there are a lot of beneﬁts,” is Microsoft Office Live Workspace. Called Lohrmann said. “With SLAs and with a “companion” to Microsoft’s software, it is agreements and special contracts with currently available as public beta. Users are the likes of Google Apps or whatever, I given a workspace, which is an online place to see that as an emerging trend. But the save, access and share documents. However, challenge is going to be the sensitive and users still need a registered copy of Micromission-critical documents.” soft Office software because new documents cannot be created online. Users can save files from Microsoft Office programs directly to their online workspace. No downloads are required, but Microsoft Microsoft SharedView enables real-time provides an Office Live Update to ensure easy collaboration by allowing users to work access to the site’s components. together on the same screen. Users can share Files are secured by virus protection from files with up to 100 people and are allotted Microsoft Forefront Security and can only 500 MB of storage, though each document be accessed with a password and a Windows can’t exceed 25 MB. Live ID. Bridging the Gap Flash Fusion When it comes to online document creation and management, governments have a few options to choose from. One choice is Adobe’s Acrobat.com, a hosted suite of online services that includes file sharing and storage, a PDF converter, word processing and Web conferencing. The suite is now available as a free beta version and was launched in June 2008. OCT_08 34 http://www.Acrobat.com http://www.Acrobat.com http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - October 2008

Government Technology - October 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Letters Cover Stories: Border Crossing The Australian E-Connection Easy Rider Northern Exposure Technology on the Cheap Ditching the Desktop Heightening the Experience Pipe Dream Falling Between the Cracks Come Together, Right Now... It's a ... Car? Digital State of the Art Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise

Government Technology - October 2008

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