CDW-G Releases Assessment of State and Local Government Security Investment

On Monday, CDW Government Inc. (CDW-G) released an assessment of state and local government purchasing behavior since 2000, called the State & Local Government Technology Investment Curve (TIC). The TIC maps state, county and city governments against five years of CDW-G customer data.

This initial installment of the TIC indexes core information security purchases in network and security hardware, security software, and anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam software. Of the 24 most-active states in IT spending, five states have information security investment profiles between 31 and 76 percent higher than the average. These Lead Investor states -- Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington and Massachusetts -- demonstrate significant, committed investment in core information security technologies at all levels of state government, and over the entire time span of the assessment.

The CDW-G State & Local TIC for security is not an assessment of leadership in IT security or quality of IT security. Rather, the curve is a quantitative, relative index of information security investment. Information security investment is a single component of the people, processes and technologies required to maintain a robust security profile.

"Security investments are a key component of each agency's security profile. But investments alone do not ensure successful security results," said Chris Rother, CDW-G vice president for state and local sales.

Looking specifically at the Lead Investor states, CDW-G and interviewees in state, county and municipal governments identified common elements that lead to more aggressive investments in information security, including:

• Strong state-level leadership
• County and municipal government leadership supporting regional or state initiatives
• Strong academic programs in information assurance education
• Statewide user groups/associations to foster discussion, provide training and enable the exchange of best practices across multiple levels of government
• Early starts, with statewide information security programs operating as early as 1997
• Substantial legislative and/or political support for the IT agenda

Also of interest, security investments varied little by technology category, with the Lead Investors and the general index consistent throughout network and security hardware, security software, and anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam software purchases. State, county and municipal government investments by security category show:

• Ohio agencies are the Lead Investors in every category
• Four out of the five Lead Investors spend consistently across every category
• 10 out of the top 12 investors spend consistently across every category
• Substantial legislative and/or political support for the IT agenda