The first responders who do the critical work of alleviating threats to the public have to balance two separate interests that are often at odds. The first interest is a rapid and accurate response to the crisis at hand, and the second interest is addressing public concerns about data security.
Responding to public safety issues can be further complicated by mobile connectivity challenges, which is a direct product of the mobile communication that these officials depend on.
Security is also crucial to public safety personnel. But new applications that are installed and updated on devices used in the field can come with time-consuming security processes and result in greater expenses. Public safety officers also often depend on legacy or custom software to carry out their job functions, and the software can be difficult to maintain.
Though possible to tackle all of these individual issues separately, that would lead to more expensive solutions overall. Instead, agencies should consider a unified digital workspace, like the one offered by Citrix. This method is flexible and can allow agencies to integrate all of the applications, desktops and data that public safety officials need to do their jobs well.
Security can be maintained within a digital workspace by utilizing features within that space. First responders and public safety employees often turn to mobile devices to streamline and modernize workflows, and the enterprise mobility management functionality (EMM) that the Citrix Workspace provides incorporates and extends the features of Microsoft Intune, the mobile device and app management component of Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite. Multiple users can securely share mobile devices, which is something that first responders or rapid response teams can utilize.
If a device ends up in the wrong hands, it’s important that management teams have the capability of wiping sensitive applications. With the mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) capabilities, organizations using Citrix Workspace can secure government data without modifying it and wipe sensitive applications remotely.
All in all, public safety organizations can provide a holistic experience across all devices and enhance user productivity. Agencies also have more choices, and thus more flexibility with how they want to structure workloads.
A secure digital workspace could be the key to support IT modernization efforts at your agency. If you’re interested in learning more from experienced workspace engineers, check out Citrix’s webinar, “Safeguarding Apps and Data for Law Enforcement and Public Safety,” at 2 p.m. on June 12.
For more information, or to register for the event, click here.
