Introduction
In recent years Alameda County has made a significant investment in modern technologies. The Board of Supervisors and County Departments have recognized that the implementation of modern technologies introduces efficiencies into the workforce allowing staff to provide more effective services to the citizens of Alameda County. Technology has also advanced significantly. It is easily accessible and relatively affordable. These factors have led to decentralized growth of the County’s technology assets. Though Departments are benefitting from the technology, decentralized growth has resulted in unnecessary funding of duplicate systems and services. Furthermore, many of the critical decentralized systems lack redundancy and environmental protections required to remain useful during a disaster. This makes it difficult to develop effective departmental Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP). Also, the lack of redundancy exposes the County to possible loss of critical services during a disaster or due to cybersecurity attacks which are becoming more and more prevalent. To remedy this, the Board of Supervisors has directed all Departments to review technology initiatives with the Information Technology Department (ITD). ITD will determine which technologies will be procured and supported by ITD.
To help Departments support their common technology requirements, ITD provides Commodity Services that can be used by all departments. These services include a technology service desk, end point procurement and support, cybersecurity, account provisioning and server administration, as well as infrastructure services such as network, communications and radio. ITD provides Commodity Services to County Departments to monitor, recommend, and provide easy access to devices, services, and software which meet the County requirements for network and security.
To streamline the review of technology initiatives by ITD, the General Services Agency and ITD provide an automated Technology Acquisition Review (TAR) program to allow ITD to review all technology purchases and renewals.
ITD will review the purchase of products and services in the areas below to identify redundancies, promote efficiency and provide enhanced security protection.
End Points
End points are the computing devices (desktops, laptops, etc.) used by County employees to perform many of their job functions. ITD establishes standards for the configuration and security of end points, and can provide centralized procurement, patching and support for department users.
Network Support
Networking requires an enterprise design. Network equipment installed at one department can dramatically affect other systems throughout the County computing environment. ITD is responsible for the installation, maintenance and support of all County networking equipment.
Compute, Cloud and Data Storage
Alameda County has made a large investment in a state-of-the-art data center. The environmental protection systems and monitoring meet or exceed data center standards. Power redundancy and power protection such as an Uninterruptable Power Supply and a custom-built diesel generator help ensure that computer systems will continue to function throughout a sustained power outage. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week there is staff in the data center that monitor equipment and ensure systems continue to be available. ITD also provides access to cloud-based solutions that offer additional capabilities for resilience, flexibility and cost effectiveness. These are County resources that all departments must leverage.
Email and Collaboration Tools
Email and other collaboration tools like Teams, Office 365, SharePoint and OneDrive have become essential tools to conduct County business. The County has a cloud-based email and collaboration system that can support all County users. All departments will use the ITD managed email and collaboration systems.
Communications
Communications is vital to supporting County services. ITD provides communication services that include telephone and radio technologies, as well as contact center and automated voice response systems. All departments will use ITD managed communication services.
Cybersecurity Services
Cybersecurity threats pose an increasing risk to County systems and data. The County has established an enterprise cybersecurity program. This program provides multiple tiers of protection throughout the entire County computer infrastructure. It is essential that one centrally managed program be used to coordinate all cybersecurity defenses across the County. All departments will comply with the Alameda County Cybersecurity Policy.
Enterprise Systems and Software
Enterprise Systems and Software are computer environments that can be leveraged by the majority of County departments. Economies of scale can be achieved by purchasing a single environment that all departments can leverage. Unnecessary duplicate purchases and redundant staffing are eliminated.
Enterprise licenses are negotiated to reduce the unit costs. All potential Enterprise Systems and Software will be reviewed by ITD for the purposes of centralizing these systems in the County Data Center with support from ITD.
Not all technologies are appropriate for centralization. ITD will base the centralized support and hosting decision on several factors including the potential Countywide use of the technology and the potential cost savings achieved by centralizing the technology. The intent of this policy is to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity and improve services throughout the County.