Hundreds (if not thousands) of municipalities across the country have started to take advantage of managed technology services. This popular shift allows local governments to focus on their community, not on fixing miscellaneous technology issues that arise throughout the workday. But why have so many municipalities decided to outsource their technology?

We have identified 5 telltale signs that will help you determine if your city is in need of a managed technology service. Take a look at them below:

1. There is lack of technology strategy and vision.

If you had to explain your technology strategy and vision today, could you do it? For many, the answer is no. Whether the IT team owns the strategy and vision, or the responsibility is that of the city administrator, everyone must share a common vision and strategy in order for technology to evolve and improve the community. When there is no clear strategy, it is difficult to advance technology.

2. IT can have high department turnover.

It’s no surprise that technology is a booming job market. Everyone is looking for talented technology resources. That means that your community isn’t just competing with other local governments for tech talent. You’re competing with large and small businesses (both of which can typically pay a higher salary).

Once qualified technology staff are found, they often leave for a higher paying job within a matter of a few years. The best way to ensure that you won’t run into technology staffing issues and turnover is by outsourcing its technology.

3. Your hardware can’t be trusted.

Do you have unreliable IT infrastructure? Messy closets? Do you experience regular interruptions to IT service? Are there long-standing problems within your network? If so, it may be time to consider a managed solution. Our Sam solution combines both hardware and service into one effective package. This ensures that your municipality not only has the service that it needs, but it also has sustainable hardware that doesn’t go underutilized.

4. There are lengthy wait times for IT support.

Technology is imperative to an entire community. In fact, most city employees rely on technology every day to effectively do their job. Therefore, when technology support is needed, staff require immediate support to get back on track. Simply put, your organization cannot afford to wait days upon days for IT support.

5. Technology stats and reporting aren’t accessible or insightful.

Is your municipality tracking technology work orders? Do you track customer satisfaction? City leaders need visibility to the technology statistics and reports that inform them as to whether their technology is working for them or against them. It’s important that communities have Help Desk performance statistics as well as frequent updates about problem areas, advancements and future tech plans.

If your municipality is experiencing any of the issues above, it is time to look into a managed technology solution. Our Sam platform, for instance,  simplifies and combines the way technology is delivered to communities. Sam and its strategic technology management empowers communities to take a big leap forward and is worth looking into if your city struggles with any of the telltale signs above.

Contact us today to learn more about our managed IT solutions.

Managing technology at your local government can be challenging and expensive. That’s why many have opted to outsource their local government technology. Take a look at our top 10 reasons to outsource local government technology:

1. Save money

If your local government is looking to use its dollars more wisely, a great solution for cutting costs is by outsourcing the technology. When outsourcing with a solution like Sam, communities and municipalities can experience up to 15% cost savings in their technology budget. Hiring internally, on the other hand, forces governments to maintain increasing salaries and benefits overtime. Outsourcing eliminates these costs.

2. Create more efficiencies

Speaking of saving money, outsourcing technology can also create tech efficiencies for your local government. Civic ITC, for example, bundles hardware needs with service. This allows for local governments to pay for technology over time, rather than upfront.

3. Ensure you have the right level of expertise

When you partner with a managed services provider like Civic, you are positioning yourself to work with industry experts. When you hire your own technology manager, it can be difficult to grasp their knowledge and expertise during the hiring process. Guarantee expertise by outsourcing to a company like Civic—there isn’t a problem we haven’t seen before!

4. Maintain tech talent

In today’s tech-focused world, qualified engineers are in high demand. And that means that local governments can experience high turnover in their technology departments. This, in turn, leads to a challenge in maintaining tech talent. Outsourcing government technology puts you at a lesser risk of being left high and dry.

5. Get extended support

A managed technology solution like Sam functions with extended remote support. A remote, cloud-based support solution allows technology problems in your community to be solved quickly and efficiently. With a local government IT outsourcing partner like Civic, you receive 24/7 technical support and do not have to pay overtime fees.

6. Operate with service level agreements

Sam, our managed service solution for local government, operates on a Service Level Agreement (SLA), which guarantees the highest level of support. When an SLA is in place, local governments receive a high level of technology service, which cannot always be guaranteed by a smaller, in-house technology team.

7. Rest easy knowing you have a secured network

Security is always a concern, especially for local government. The only way to be sure that your network is completely safe is by having a team of experts handle it. When you work with a tech company that specializes in the government landscape like Civic, you ensure that your network is secure from external threats.

8. There will be far less for you to worry about!

When you’re running an entire community, you shouldn’t have to worry about fixing technology challenges as they arise. That’s where a company like Civic can come in. Having a team behind your technology that can proactively troubleshoot possible problems allows your leaders to focus on community issues, not on small technology breaks.

9. Take advantage of the numbers

When you outsource your technology, you automatically have multiple experts managing your government’s technology hardware. This gives your community—no matter how big or small—the highest level of technology support with various engineers troubleshooting problems and providing input on best practices, trends and proactive projects.

10. Other local communities are doing it–and are rising to the top!

Many local government organizations throughout the nation—both large and small—are outsourcing their technology. Managed technology solutions can be built for large or small budgets and are completely customized.

If you’re ready to outsource your government’s technology, Civic’s Sam solution can help. To find out more about Sam, visit our managed services page or contact Civic today.