Federal Government is Increasingly Replacing BlackBerrys With iPhones

The Federal Government is increasingly replacing BlackBerrys with iPhones, Microsoft Outlook with Gmail, and laptops with iPads, according to a Washington Post report.

Officials reportedly say the shift will increase productivity while slashing billions from the $80 billion spent annually on information technology.

"The demand we are seeing now in the last 90 days has been just extraordinary," said Tim Hoechst, chief technology officer at Agilex Technologies, a company that's helping federal agencies integrate Apple devices into their workforce. "It's like everybody is saying, 'This is really happening here now.'"


Kundra, the U.S. top information officer, told the Washington Post that, "The line between work and home in terms of technology is beginning to blur." When asked what employees think of current corporate technology, Kundra says, "It's not a question of whether they don't like it. They despise it."

Bringing consumer technology into the corporate world has its challenges. One of the biggest concerns for especially for government is security. Rep. Darrell Issa recently voiced his concern about iPad use to White House officials: "So people carry a product which circumvents your entire system by going to the AT&T network on a daily basis in the White House, isn’t that true?" The White House official was forced to admit that is the case.

Earlier this year it was reported that Apple hired Naval Security Expert David Rice to be its Director of Global Security. Rice is expected to help Apple improve the security of its devices for corporate and government use.

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