Government Solutions
Today’s turbulent
global situation has caused the U.S. to rethink its fundamental
national security policies and examine how its information
is controlled and managed. The traditional centralized system,
in which those who control the most information wield the
most power, is rapidly shifting to one in which shared information
is considerably more powerful. The national infrastructure
that is being recast has, at its core, information decentralization.
In response, public
sector agencies are increasingly looking to technology to
help them achieve the expanded data integration that will
be required to meet new legislative and other directives.
Information sharing among government agencies does exist,
and much of it is externally imposed in response to legislative
or policy mandates. However, there is an urgent need to not
only accelerate information distribution, but also to broaden
the scope of organizations that can share data. Local, state
and federal agencies nationwide are reevaluating their needs
and seeking integration solutions that can be deployed rapidly,
efficiently and cost effectively, with minimal disruption.
MITEM has worked
with many local, state and federal entities to integrate their
legacy systems, share data, and expose web services to citizens.
MITEM understands the key characteristics of the public sector
IT environment that makes it so different from the private
sector. These distinctive traits create a unique set of challenges
for government data integration.
Dominated
by Legacy Systems
Government systems can be extremely large. Agencies have been
collecting massive amounts of critical data for decades, and
may have tens of thousands of system users. Even on a local
level, government information management needs can be grand
in scale. Seventy-to-80 percent of government data resides
on high-end legacy, or mainframe, data processing systems
such as Unisys or IBM.
Diverse Technologies
Government legacy systems typically include many “homegrown”
systems and heterogeneous platforms. In the private sector,
off-the-shelf, packaged solutions predominate, but the government
needs specialized systems that can respond immediately to
legislative changes. They can’t wait until a software
vendor upgrades a packaged solution, so they often create
their own. In addition, agency IT decisions are made independently,
thus creating a highly diverse environment.
Practical, Economical Technology Solutions
The sheer scale of government systems and the high cost of
bleeding-edge talent prevent many agencies from rapidly adopting
the latest technology fad. The cost of transformative change
is too high and return on investment (ROI) is uncertain. Once
it’s installed and it works, the government maintains
its data processing architecture for the long haul.
Highly Accountable
The government runs on taxpayer money which is a limited fund.
It can be difficult to get government technology projects
funded, and there is far greater scrutiny to prove success
than in the private sector. If the system works, a compelling
case must be made to justify change. Therefore, government
agencies need integration solutions with low cost of entry,
rapid, demonstrable business value and a stepwise roadmap.
Considering the distinctive character of public sector IT
environments, MitemView is the ideal integration solution
because it enables:
- True, direct legacy application integration
- Minimal, if any, disruption to existing systems
- Easy accommodation of unforeseen conditions
- Accountable, proven solutions that deliver on their promises
- Low-cost of entry; shows immediate value; builds in a
stepwise fashion
- Leverage existing skills and technologies
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