HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 01-25-2011 - 1ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: January 25, 2011
Action Agenda
Item No. ~
SUBJECT: Information Technologies Report
DEPARTMENT: Information Technologies PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Report Todd Jones, (919) 245-2285
PURPOSE: To provide the Board with a report on the major accomplishments of the
Information Technologies Department.
BACKGROUND: With the retirement of the Information Technologies Advisory Committee in
2010, the County Manager and the Chief Information Officer have sought new ways to ensure
the BOCC can monitor the goals and achievements of the Information Technologies
Department. The enclosed report seeks to provide a high-level view of the major
accomplishments of the County's Information Technologies Department for calendar years
2009 and 2010. It provides a brief description of each major accomplishment, asummary of
major hardware purchases and support activities.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact with the Board receiving this report.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive this report and
provide any feedback to the Chief Information Officer and County Manager.
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Orange County
Information Technologies Department
Board of County Commissioners Report
Major Accomplishments in 2009-2010
Todd E. Jones
Chief Information Officer
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January 25, 2011
Accomplishments 2009-2010
2009 2010 Summary of IT Accomplishments
This report serves to document the major accomplishments of Orange County's
Information Technologies department. While nearly all of these
accomplishments represent a collaborative effort with other County staff, this
report should provide an accurate high-level view of the value the IT department
has brought to the County through its stewardship of Capital and Operating
monies and staff effort over the calendar years 2009 and 2010.
Major Accomplishments by Month
December 2010
• Migration from County mainframe
Begun before the CIO's arrival in 2003, this milestone achievement ensures
the County is no longer reliant on antiquated, unsupportable technology for
operations.
Capital Investment to Implement: imbedded in projects. Much staff time.
• Virtual server environment
This serves as a pilot for new environmentally friendly, lower cost server
technology while also providing the Tax offices with testing equipment for new
releases of software.
Capital Investment to Implement: Pilot cost $7K
Phase I GIS Consolidation
Personnel have been transitioned from DEAPR and Planning/Inspections to
provide a strong central GIS organization within IT. The newly bolstered
organization can now handle long languishing GIS needs throughout the
County.
Capital Investment to Implement: None
November 2010
Laptop encryption
This initiative prevents the unintended disclosure of protected information
through laptop loss or theft. With data encryption, HIPAA, personnel and
other protected data can not be extracted from laptops without the use of
proper County credentials.
Capital Investment to Implement: $20K
October 2010
• Deployed the Property Information Management System (PIMS),
including:
~. PIN App -custom application for managing index of real property
2. AssessPro -real property assessment system
3. NCPTS -revenue and collections application
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
4. PNS App -integrates GIS to PIN App and AssessPro and creates
public record documents for Register of Deeds
5. Decommissioned mainframe tax system from production
s. Interfaces to:
o Munis
o Permits Plus (Inspections)
o GIS
o AmCad (Register of Deeds)
o County website
This new system is more flexible than the old mainframe system of 30+ years,
offers more modern integration mechanisms and leverages modern
technologies to ensure full supportability.
Capital Investment to Implement: $2.1 M
Parks and recreational facilities locator
This new public-facing web utility provides the public a convenient and
intuitive mechanism for locating parks and recreational facilities by amenity. It
is across-governmental collaboration that includes all parks and recreational
facilities operated by Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Mebane (Orange
County portions) and Orange County. Its integration with Google maps
ensures familiar ease-of-use while reducing development effort considerably.
Capital Investment to Implement: Internal resources and $2K contract
resources
September 2010
• Training room complete
The provision of a dedicated training room allows astate-of-the-art training
facility for County staff. It provides a more effective training environment for
staff while reducing resources required for setting up training facilities.
Capital Investment to Implement: $10K
August 2010
Mobile email policy
This policy ensures secure management of mobile devices accessing County
email, a growing trend among SmartPhones, while allowing staff the
convenience and efficiency of accessing County email from email-enabled
phones 24 hours a day.
Capital Investment to Implement: None
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
Cross-browser compatibility web template evolution
This ongoing evolution of templates used in authoring County websites
ensures broad access by a growing number of browsers, including Internet-
enabled SmartPhones, thus broadening access to County web resources to
an expanding array of devices.
Capital Investment to Implement: Internal resources and $2K contract
resources
• Boundary layer corrections
GIS completed review and corrections for boundary layers to automate Land
Records, Planning, and Addressing functions, creating efficiencies while
reducing errors.
Capital Investment to Implement: None
July 2010
Implemented new jury selection/management system
This function, a responsibility of the County, has been fully transitioned from a
mainframe system to a modern PC-based application. It is now in use by the
Clerk of Courts to directly and efficiently manage their jury pools and has
eliminated County staff's involvement in creating and maintaining jury pools
for the Courts.
Capital Investment to Implement: $7K
PIN/TMBL/Parcel lookup tool
Although the County has fully transitioned all land based activities to the
Parcel Identification Number system, IT has provided a lookup tool for the
public, who may still be using older land identification systems. This allows
businesses to transition (or not) to the County's PIN system at their discretion.
Capital Investment to Implement: None
June 2010
New data center
The successful completion of this project mitigates along-standing concern -
the vulnerability of the County's data center. The new data center has
dedicated climate control systems, an enterprise grade uninterruptable power
supply, generator support, and a data center quality fire suppression system.
All these improvements comprise a quantum leap in the reliability, safety and
continuity of County data operations.
Capital Investment to Implement: $50K IT Capital, balance in construction
budget
• Collaborated on implementing Sheriff's in-car video system
This project advances the Sheriff s program for providing in-car video for his
fleet of patrol cars.
Capital Investment to Implement: covered in Sheriffs budget '
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
April 2010
Implemented subscription service via website
This service allows the public to sign up for distributions lists in a number of
interest areas. The service is integrated into the County website and can
easily be expanded as new interest areas are identified.
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
March 2010
New County GIS website
The new GIS website features a number of improvements, including providing
a convenient mechanism for the public to create address lists based on buffer
maps. It replaces the much older GIS website, whose interface was
increasingly antiquated.
Capital Investment to Implement: internal staff resources and $5K in
contract resources
February 2010
Streaming Videos of BOCC meetings
This project makes provides the public streaming and archived video of
BOCC meetings. A second system has been set up at DSS Meeting Room to
provide multi-site video streaming capabilities. An archival system ensures
the County will be able to provide the public access to videos far into the
future.
Capital Investment to Implement: $45K
Wireless hot spots
New hotspots in the Main Library, Office Building, Hillsborough Commons for
public access and staff mobility.
Capital Investment to Implement: $5K
January 2010
• Phone system
694 phones and attendant back office equipment installed and confirmed
operational. This total replacement of the Hillsborough phone system ensures
the County is on supported and reliable phone equipment.
Capital Investment to Implement: $580K
• Social Services, Library move support
Implemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
opened DSS and Library facilities
Capital Investment to Implement: $15K
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
December 2009
Planning/Inspection, Economic Development, Environmental Health and
Elections move support
Implemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
opened Planning/Inspections, Economic Development, Environmental Health
and Elections facilities
Capital Investment to Implement: $2K
Network fiber installation for Public Works
This installation links our last remaining major County facility to the network
using high-speed fiber. As a result, staff at the Public Works campus can now
share data in real time with other County staff and have effective access to a
large array of Internet services previously impractical to use.
Capital Investment to Implement: $2K
November 2009
• Information Technologies and AMPS move support
Implemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
opened and beautiful new IT and AMPS facility
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
• Fiber Installation for Office Bldg, Hillsborough Commons
This installation brought all the new downtown buildings into our fiber
network.
Capital Investment to Implement: $15K covered in construction costs
October 2009
• County Manager, Clerk, Attorney, Financial Services, HR renovation
support
Implemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
renovated County Manager, Clerk, Attorney, Financial Services, HR facilities
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
Data switch replacement
Completed replacement of entire data switch infrastructure of Hillsborough
offices in preparation for new phone system. In addition to providing a modern
infrastructure for the phone system, data flows more efficiently through the
new equipment, yielding performance benefits in staff using network
resources.
Capital Investment to Implement: $160K (some covered in VOIP project)
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
September 2009
Implemented major upgrade for entire County website.
17,000+ files updated with new look and feel, new navigation mechanisms,
broad accessibility, consistency, ease of updating and unified toolset with full
IT support. The resulting customer experience has been made faster
(including for customers on dial-up systems), more consistent, more easily
maintained and compliant with ADA guidelines. Traffic increases to the
County website since these improvements have been significant.
Capital Investment to Implement: $14K
Aug 2009
GIS standardizes Orange County land data for NC One Map compliance
NC One Map is a comprehensive clearinghouse to North Carolina's
geospatial data resources. By joining this state initiative, Orange County
leverages statewide mapping resources and contributes to a comprehensive
mapping view of all areas of the state, while providing the County with access
to neighboring counties' compatible data for use in analyses.
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
• Negotiated enterprise fiber agreement
IT and AMPS negotiated an enterprise agreement with TWC (the only fiber
provider serving Hillsborough and Chapel Hill offices), yielding flexibility in
managing bandwidth. This arrangement allows the County to reallocate
underutilized bandwidth to facilities based on need. This contract was
negotiated at no additional cost to the County.
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
July 2009
• GIS standardizes data in conformance to National Grid model
By conforming our GIS data to the National Grid model, we have met a major
pre-requisite for many public safety grants and ensured future compliance for
myriad new GIS initiatives.
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
May 2009
• Animal Services move support
Implemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
opened Animal Services facilities
Capital Investment to Implement: $2K
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
Major Munis implementation
Implemented new database backend, new server and major software
upgrade to ensure our financial systems software is more flexible, more
secure and more supportable.
Capital Investment to Implement: $15K
March 2009
Carr Dentaf fiber
Implemented fiber network at Carr Dental. Their offices now have very high
speed data access and reliable use of county network resources with which
they can share data more effectively with other County staff (including the
Health Department's main offices) and access Internet resources more
efficiently.
Capital Investment to Implement: $2K
February 2009
• Real time synchronization of GIS data
Implemented real time synchronization of GIS database between Orange
County GIS, Chapel Hill GIS and Carrboro GIS (OC currently provides this
service for Hillsborough) for all streets and addresses, greatly increasing
levels of timeliness & accuracy for addressing data, while ensuring more
reliable and effective collaboration between our important municipal partners.
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
• Implemented Bentley Building fiber
Upgraded Bentley Building network connection for Visitors' Bureau, Skills
Development Center, HR&R and Animal Services. Their offices now have
very high speed data access and reliable use of county network resources.
Capital Investment to Implement: $2K
• Implemented technology request tool
Web based database and query system implemented into purchasing
process, yielding tighter control on technologies implemented in County
operations and ultimately ensuring a more compatible technology architecture
which can more effectively be used to collaborate across departments and
leverage economies of scale.
Capital Investment to Implement: No capital costs
January 2009
• Solid Waste move support
Implemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
opened Solid Waste Operations Center.
Capital Investment to Implement: $56K (includes fiber installation along
Eubanks Road)
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
• Central Orange Senior Center move support
lmplemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
opened Central Orange Senior Center.
Capital Investment to Implement: $22K (includes fiber installation from
EMS headquarters to COSC facility)
Sheriff s Office move support
Implemented network, desktop and laptop technology in support of newly
opened Sheriffs office.
Capital Investment to Implement: $2K
• Southern Human Services Center network upgrade
Implemented major upgrade of SHSC networking equipment, yielding more
reliable and faster data sharing between this campus and other parts of the
County network (in particular, Whiffed and Hillsborough Commons partners}.
Capital Investment to Implement: $20K
Moves
Information Technologies spent much of 2009 and 2010 providing extensive
technology support for the many office relocations of County staff and operations.
In 2009 and 2010, we moved and installed computing, server, network, and
attendant technologies for 460 staff moves. Between these moves and the
telephone system replacement project, the County network has essentially been
totally revamped. The staff effort required to support the moves and telephone
project has delayed the less urgent, but important desktop and laptop
replacement project. The resumption of the full laptop/desktop replacement
program will take place over the next calendar year.
Servers
In order to support new technologies and ensure existing servers are reliable and
up-to-date, information Technologies purchased and implemented several new
servers in 2009 and 2010. These servers and their functions are as follows:
• DSS Automation (2)
• Library System Upgrade (3)
• PIMS (4}
• GIS Web Server
• AmCad Redaction Services
• Granicus Streaming Video (3}
• Storage Area Network Upgrades
• Data Backup Expansion
Total costs of these servers and attendant hardware is: $153K
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
Desktops/Laptops
In order to support new technologies and ensure existing desktops and laptops
are reliable and up-to-date, Information Technologies purchases and installs
desktops and laptops regularly. In 2009, IT installed 15 laptops and 33 desktops,
a County investment of $64K. In 2010, IT installed 73 laptops and 30 desktops,
a County investment of $157K.
Support
Providing technology support to County staff remains one of Information
Technologies' most critical and relied upon services. The tables below illustrated
the volume of service request the department handles, as well our measured
performance in satisfactorily resolving those requests.
2009 '2010
Measure Significance Numbers Numbers
Measures percentage of time in which
network connectivity and servers are
Network and available. This includes planned off-
Server Uptime hours downtime for maintenance 99.92% 99.62%
Incoming This is the total number of service
Trouble Tickets requests called into IT from County staff 6,111 7,232
This is the percentage of Priority one
P1 tickets help tickets resolved within 4 hour target 68.67% 72.57%
This is the percentage of Priority two
P2 tickets help tickets resolved within 9 hour target 85.19% 76.89%
This is the percentage of Priority three
help tickets resolved within 40 business
P3 tickets hour target 84.25% 82.48%
Backup
Success Rate This is the success rate for data
backups. 98.50% 98.42%
Incoming Numbers of emails received from outside
emails County network 78,343,924 41,482,502
Incoming
emails blocked Number of emails received from outside
as spam County network blocked as spam 76,858,565 39,200,807
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Accomplishments 2009-2010
This Year
During 2011, we plan to achieve the following major accomplishments:
• Wireless networking for ALL major County buildings
This initiative will bring public wireless access points to all County buildings
on our fiber network.
• On-line pet registration
Providing an Internet based tool with which the public can register their pets.
• On-line recreation registration
Providing an Internet based tool with which the public can sign up for classes,
team sports and recreational facilities.
• On-line room reservation
In concert with the upcoming facilities use policy, we want to provide an
Internet based too{ with which the public can reserve rooms designated for
public use.
• Virtual servers and desktops
Deploy new server and desktop technologies that use less energy, have a
lower lifetime cost, allow for quicker disaster recovery and position the County
for future business continuity programs in collaboration with peer local
government IT organization.
• Electronic timesheets
Deploy technology in support of the new Human Resources timesheet
initiative. This will provide more efficient and accurate time reporting across
all County staff.
• Email archiving
Implement technology for long-term archival of all incoming and outbound
County email, for more efficient response to public records requests.
• Continued stewardship of County data and support of County staff
We will continue to manage the County's growing digital assets and help
ensure County staff are able to fully utilize existing technology to maximize
the value of technology investments.
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