Utah, Wisconsin tops in mobility investment

Utah and Wisconsin top the list for mobile technology investments, according to a CDW Government examination of government purchasing.

CDW-G identified those states as lead investors based on its assessment of state and local purchasing behavior since 2003. The company's State and Local Government Technology Investment Curve study uses customer data and covers mobility categories such as notebook PCs, nonwireless handheld devices and wireless communications devices.

After Utah and Wisconsin are four early investors: California, New York, Oregon and Colorado.

Jim Grass, senior director of state and local sales at CDW-G, said mobile technology projects vary by state, but law enforcement is one strong area of investment.

“You are seeing activity…around mobile computers and ruggedized notebooks in police cars,” he said. “That seems to be a nationwide trend.”

Grass cited continuity of operations as another common mobile technology application in the top-investing states.

CDW-G also ranked a group of 12 states beyond the lead investor and early investor tiers: Virginia, Washington, Ohio, Maryland, Rhode Island, Florida, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Illinois, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona.

Virginia made the top spot in an earlier CDW-G assessment of storage buying. Ohio was lead investor for security, while Rhode Island was lead investor in the 802.11 wireless category.