The final configuration was a custom-build from HP to meet specific EDC requirements, such as 4GB of RAM. The notebook also makes use of the HP Credential Manager for password management.

At the time, there was no option for a built-in cellular module, so EDC uses plug-in cards. Typically, each user also has built-in GPS, an encrypted USB stick and a BlackBerry smartphone or e-mail device.

The laptop software load also includes Polycom's PVX video-conferencing software, allowing point-to-point video sessions with another notebook user or a video-conferencing room in an office. In the future, EDC plans to support IM, unified messaging software, softphones for notebook-based VoIP calls, and other communications options.

The software selection was done by the project team, based on a list of criteria pulled from requirements set forth by users and tech support staff. The software needed to integrate with the existing infrastructure and fit with EDC's strategic road map. The project team set up a similar kind of software test drive with users for feedback and fine tuning.

Step 5 -- Train users, plan for support and evaluate

EDC simplified deployment by bringing groups of users into three-hour training sessions with the notebooks, then releasing them to their desks, which had been outfitted with a notebook docking station in place of the desktop PC. Most of the work was done in group sessions in Ottawa, with EDC's corporate training team taking on this job.

Overall, the sessions went well, but McNulty says feedback from users showed the IT staff tried to pack too much into the training sessions. In the future, he says, "we'll break that up into chunks." EDC plans to make use of Web and video training for some of that, and to supplement the in-person sessions.

A related issue was including the tech support staff in the mobile deployment. "We outfitted our support staff with these same products so they have the same equipment and software as the clients," Doyle says. "That's key." This group was then able to give informed, fast,and effective help to users with problems or questions.

In a  recentlly completed survey, with 95 percent of the newly mobilized employees responding, nearly all reported improved productivity and efficiency as a result of the new platform. "This is a major shift for these people: from a desktop PC to new hardware, with video, access to folders on network drivers and so on," McNulty says.

Overall, the project to date has cost EDC about $1 million Canadian dollars (about US$811,000  at current exchange rates). The agency projects a net income improvement over four years in the "seven-digit range," according to McNulty.