2. NDACo technology plan - Laserfiche WebLink

Cass County Technology Planning NDACo Proposal Background: Information technology, long an integral part of county government, is becoming increasingly complex as it extends from the "backroom" to direct, real-time connections with every county office, numerous private businesses, and potentially every citizen and property-owner of the county. With this complexity, the management of"IT" has gone from primarily buying or building applications and hardware to designing and operating an extensive voice, data, and video network, supporting users of all levels of expertise, contracting for a large variety of services, developing customer support capabilities, and planning for the future. The North Dakota Association of Counties has been assisting and supporting county government with their IT needs for the past ten years and has developed significant experience in many of these areas. A number of counties have found NDACo staff particularly helpful in providing an outside perspective for the development of their planning processes. Proposal: NDACo proposes to design and implement a planning process for Cass County that will provide a blueprint for their immediate and near-term information technology efforts, but also create a roadmap for continuing the planning process into the future. Project Approach & Deliverables: NDACo's approach will incorporate on-site investigation, staff and official interviews, research of comparables, and project prioritization methods. The components of this approach will include: > Discussion and definition of the role of the Information Services Dept. ~ Review of the Cass County network, systems, and applications > Identification of internal and external customer connection requirements >, Assessment & prioritization of current and proposed automation projects and support functions > Examination of current and potential staffing requirements and management options While the compilation and analysis of the information gathered through these various components will be done by NDACo, it is important to acknowledge that involvement and dedication to this process by Cass County staff is critical to its success. With the participation and interest of county agency heads and key staff, the final product will be truly representative of the county's goals.