St. Lawrence County
Information Technology Advisory Board
Meeting Minutes
12/15/11, 3 PM
Attendees:
Jeff Rousell (conference call), PatTurbett, Dave Wolf, John
Miller, Carrie Tuttle, David Wurzburg, Marc Rusch, Phil Wagschal, Bill Hunter,
Laura Perry, Jen French
1. Committee
Reports
A. Continuing Education.
- Laura reported that
there was no Technology Seminar last month and asked if Marc Rusch would be
willing to be a speaker.
- Attendance at the
November session was a little lower but the topic was very high tech and there
is a need for sessions that focus on lower level business needs, the "mom
and pop" businesses of the region
- There is a need for some people from the committee to take
the lead in developing a schedule for these events a little more in
advance. Laura is asking for volunteers
to help coordinate.
- Marc suggested that
a broader discussion be facilitated to understand hosted solutions and the
advantages /disadvantages for small businesses. Could describe fully hosted,
complete on site solution, and hybrid. The committee discussed several topics
that could be discussed in a series of seminars that address needs assessments,
selecting a consultant, selecting a solution, implementation and maintenance.
LJP -
Additional Notes regarding brainstorming for future sessions:
Pros/Cons for
Hosted Services vs. Onsite
-this would
include for processes like Backup, but also applies to business decisions
regarding mail srvers, file servers, web servers (including the discussion of
cloud computing)
Committee
members offered there are three methods of accomplishing the ends:
1) Do It Yourself
2) Hosted – ‘Turn Key’ Solution
3) Hybrid – then there is several
variations of the Hybrid
Focusing on
three areas:
Mail Servers
File Servicers
Web Servers
Not sure where Apps go at this
point?
Topic would
benefit from a panel discussion to demonstrate a case study from each of the
scenarios. The group brainstormed some possible candidates for the panel
discussion:
Marc Rousch – DIY, small business
Nathan Pratt, Corning
Penski - ??
Fused Solutions – Hosted ??
Successfully outsourced 100%
Alisha Duewui – Town of Clayton,
Executive Assistant
GIS Hosted Solutions – option for government
Town of Clayton – evaluated the hosted vs in-house,
spectrum of technical sophistication
Hosted Website – a CON, can be difficult to update
Backup for
small/medium business
• Best Practices – what different
businesses are doing
• Evaluating what your needs are: Needs
Assessment
• Selecting a consultant – General
Contractor & Rent a CTO
• Selecting the solution
• Implementing Solution
• Follow through and testing
Question
was posed whether or not this topic works for Emerging Technology Session or
for a different forum? It was thought
that perhaps we should hold this as a session at the Symposium
Other
topics to cover in future sessions (emerging technology or OTHER?)
For small
business:
·
Doing
a Needs Assessment: Helping business to understand what is their issue? Is it a
business processes issue or is it technological issue?
·
Disaster
Recovery -
·
Data
Retention –
·
Follow
Through and Testing
·
You
want a consultant, where do you go?
Finding the right group for the right need.
B. St. Lawrence county has funded $6000 this budget year.
Laura is prepared to move forward with topic focus, and planning for the event.
In light of the regional momentum going on in the North Country the symposium
is a great opportunity to highlight some progress and projects. Laura is also
asking for a co-chair to help coordinate the event. By the time we meet in
January we should have issued request for proposals for presentations. Volunteers will be requested at the next
meeting. Task list will be emailed.
LJP -
Additional Notes regarding brainstorming on themes/focus of 2012 Symposium:
- Three terms emerged regarding the current state of IT
in the region (in light of the current Stimulus funded broadband projects
underway by DANC, Slic and others: Integration/Vision/Pieces - as
community gets access to the 'Big Pipes' integration of the technology, a
vision for expanding it use, and the pieces of the puzzle come
together.
- The 'Big Pipes' lay the groundwork for the 'Creation
of New Business Models.
- The County's IT Strategic Plan lines up with the
outcomes of this project, as the momentum starts we can see a multiplier
of projects, developments and applications across community segments.
C. Laura will email highlights of 2011 report. (See copied
following this report).
D. January meeting will be election of officers.
****************************
Report Prepared by Laura Perry, SLC IT Advisory Board Chair
2011
Key Points in 2011
Board Business:
- Elected Officers for the 1st time:
- Membership:
- Named Committees:
·
North Country Technology Symposium
·
Education
·
Presented to BOL during new legislators’
orientation, April ‘11
·
Jamie Bay from Hogansburg Broadband Project
·
Rochelle Romada, St. Lawrence Lewis BOCES
·
Sue Rau and Dulli Tengeler of North Country
Grown Cooperative
·
Nathan Pratt, Corning
Board Initiatives
Successes in 2011:
- ·
Submitted comments of support in a PSC Complaint
filed by Slic Network Solutions regarding Niagara Mohawk’s proposed rate
increase for pole attachments. Also,
drafted and forwarded a successful resolution to the Board of Legislators
opposing the rate increase.
- ·
Submitted letter of support for the Corning
Canton Fiber Project to be funded in the NBRC grant application that DANC is
submitting.
- ·
Exhibited at Local Government Conference
- ·
Emerging Technology Series – held three
sessions, no session in Dec. Planning to
hold 3 or 4 in first part of 2012.
- ·
2nd Annual North Country Technology
Symposium
- ·
SPIRIT Awards
- ·
Boarded adopted an online project
management/collaboration forum – Teambox
Open Items Going into 2012:
- ·
Update Strategic Plan
- ·
One on One Consulting
- ·
Wireless Internet access during Board meetings.
- ·
Develop Communications Calendar for messaging
with NCTS attendees and supporters throughout the year.
- ·
St. Lawrence County Clerks Association
- ·
SLC Financial Enterprise Software Replacement
Project
- ·
SLC Regional I.T. Training Collaborative
