Which tech products are the most sought after in your agency?

I normally don’t post too much on the latest happenings in the world of technology products. I’m honored to work for HP and be constantly surrounded by the latest and greatest products out there, but most of the time it’s more interesting to use those products to write about other issues facing the government community.

This year might be a little different – HP has introduced a number of products recently at CES that could have a big impact on government employees from federal agencies to local city officials. I work for the Personal Systems Group at HP – the group within HP responsible for our hardware products from desktop computers and notebooks to tablets and workstations, so I hear about plenty of products that government agencies could be itching for.

I’m expecting 2011 to be a year of increased mobility within the government. With the passing of teleworking legislation and the increasing desire from government workers to remain connected to their work wherever they travel, products offering increased mobility are bound to draw interest. We introduced Our HP Slate last fall designed for businesses, and smaller netbooks like the lightweight HP Mini 1103 are sure to draw attention from agencies with on-the-go workers. Even government employees who are on the run a lot have shown interest in tablet computers like our EliteBook 2740p.

As always, many agencies are concerned with security. And with 2011 likely to be a year with plenty of agencies refreshing their computing technology, I’d expect that many will go after thin clients. Having no hard drive makes the devices much more secure than a standard desktop or notebook computer, and having no other moving parts or fans lowers maintenance costs and makes computers last longer. At CES, we announced the HP t5550, t5565 and t5570 thin clients and we’ve seen a good amount of interest in them so far. We’ve also seen government interest in our all-in-one solutions, like the HP 100B All-in-One, in situations where space is limited, like on a ship or in classrooms.

So what is your agency looking out for 2011?