I spent today at a conference for government IT professionals.  It is a smart group of people working hard to keep their town, village, city, or county up-to-date and innovative.  I have attended this conference for many years now and am there to discuss with customers and prospects how Laserfiche can help them with document management and business process automation.

Partway through the show, we decided to ask these IT professionals what was on their minds regarding IT.  We primarily asked this question, “What if someone donated $200K to the municipality for an IT project to do something new that might not already fit the budget? What would you spend the money on?”

The exercise was a great conversation starter, and surprisingly, most of these men and women spent a considerable amount of time with us discussing it. The answers were diverse, reflecting the wide range of perspectives and experiences in our IT community. This provides a good cross-section of what is happening in IT and what we should all consider.

Here are 7 things that are on IT professionals’ minds!

1) MS365 Sharepoint and OneDrive move from on-premise server storage. Many of us began using MS365 for our Office 365 subscription and email years ago, but the transition to using it for file storage has been slower. Why should we consider moving our file storage here? (1) It provides easier access for remote workers because it does not require a VPN to gain access. (2) It takes the burden off your local servers or, in a smaller environment, even eliminates the need for them. (3) In many cases, it is included with your subscription, so it does not incur an additional cost. (4) If you want to use Microsoft Copilot AI, it can only tap into your files for knowledge if they are stored here.

2) Enhancing security, particularly in MDR (Managed Detection and Response) and ITDR (IT Disaster Recovery). The security world is changing. It requires new and better tools to protect you. Many IT professionals have emphasized that they are in the process of implementing this change. MDR is an enhanced agent that monitors your security and reports to a 24/7 team of security experts in a security operations center.  ITDR provides similar services but focuses on monitoring your cloud, such as MS365 or Google, for identity compromise and shuts down access if an issue is detected.

3) Policy and procedure management. This item surprised me, but one of the IT Directors said that they need to centralize their IT policy and control. Often, IT policy is just an occasional email reminding people of proper procedures, which then gets lost over time. Ideally, these informal IT policies would be centralized and formalized, and new employees would be required to read and sign off on them.

4) Learning more about AI and how to apply it to improve daily work. Interestingly, many IT professionals side-stepped this topic because “it is over-hyped.” I think they are tired of talking about it.  There was, however, interest in how to do AI in a secure way that provides more value than just a writing assistant.  One person we spoke to suggested that having the time and money for a research project into private LLMs and what can be done with them would be beneficial. Overall, there was considerable concern about the security of AI, particularly concerning health and juvenile data.

5) Update computer hardware to support Windows 11. Windows 10 will be out of support this fall, and some IT leaders need to allocate a significant portion of their budget to machines that will support Windows 11. These are machines that have exceeded the recommended best practice of 5 years for a computer or laptop and, due to their age, do not have the necessary components to support the free upgrade to Windows 11.  It is well past time to begin mapping this upgrade and purchasing the hardware required to support Windows 11.

6) Engage in training or consulting to maximize the value of existing software. This is an exceptionally insightful addition to the list, reflecting a truism that applies to both government and business in general. We only utilize a fraction of the features available in the software we have. Working with a software vendor or process consultant to optimize the use of existing software can have a significant impact. Could you get more out of your ERP?  Could you get more out of your CRM?  What could we be doing with the MS365 tools that we are not?  Investing in going deeper often has significant rewards.

7) Updating the phone system. Phone system technology has undergone significant changes in just a few years. And it often gets pushed to the back burner. We frequently hear that it is working, so it will have to take a back seat to other changes that require spending money.  There are several reasons why pushing it too long can be detrimental, but let’s focus on just two. Suppose your old, traditional, hardware-based PBX phone system stops working. In that case, it can be expensive to repair (or to order the part in an emergency), and you will then be spending money on outdated technology. In addition, the new technology offers several significant advantages, including the ability to extend your cell phone service and facilitate seamless communication between offices, including home offices, which can significantly improve productivity and efficiency.

It was great spending some time at GIPAW, hearing from IT professionals about their wishlist items, and discussing with them the challenges of managing IT in the government setting. It is also a great representation of things that all of us in business should consider.

Please reach out to scotth@ctaccess.com if you would like to explore IT planning or any of these topics further.