"Technology is not the solution; it's a way to solve a problem."

That statement from Georgia Tech's Ron Hutchins, who serves as Associate Vice Provost for Research and Chief Technology Officer, represents a perspective delivered by several of the industry experts who spoke at our Workforce Mobility Summit last month. We were reminded throughout the day that addressing the use of mobile technology is not a decision about devices and solutions as much as it is a strategic one. It's about how mobility can change the way we work, enhancing both productivity for workers and service for citizens.

More than 200 participants joined us at Georgia Tech for the summit, representing 14 local governments and 47 agencies, along with the University System of Georgia. Speakers from industry leaders such as Airwatch, AT&T, Apple, Microsoft, Motorola Mobility and Verizon led engaging sessions on a range of topics related to mobile technology and its growing impact on workers today and in the future.

Our intent was to start an ongoing conversation about the benefits and challenges that mobility presents, from ensuring security, to determining your return on investment, to allowing employees to use their own mobile devices. The summit was the first in a series of events based on the State IT Road Map, which state agency CIOs helped us develop.

I appreciate the contributions of our steering committee, composed of business and technology executives from state agencies and local governments, who helped to plan the summit and will make recommendations for future events. We will keep you posted.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

AT&T is in the process of migrating users to a new SSL Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that allows employees to access their agency resources remotely from the Internet. Users will be able to access applications and data with agency-issued computers and other authorized devices from the Internet using a standard web browser.

The SSL VPN project will involve moving agency users to a new, centralized solution hosted in the North Atlanta Data Center (NADC) and the IBM/Boulder disaster recovery facility. The new SSL VPN service replaces a number of aging remote VPN solutions housed at agency remote data centers and in the NADC.

Benefits of the solution

The flexibility of the platform allows AT&T to customize the type of access required for various user groups supported by the agency while maintaining the appropriate security to control access to resources. The solution does not require the loading of a separate VPN client application to the user's device.

The new SSL VPN solution provides access to agency resources using three different methods: direct network connectivity, remote desktop access, and application-specific access. Currently, the SSL VPN platform supports multiple agencies that access application and network resources inside of the NADC. The VPN service is now being expanded to provide access to agency remote data center locations for the agencies that have completed server consolidation.

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