We have been trying to strengthen network security, but specifically in such a way that it will continue to enable and help our users who are working remotely to be productive without locking them down so tight that they can’t do anything.
MORE FROM STATETECH: Find out how to protect remote workers from phishing attacks.
STATETECH: Could you provide some perspective on your investments in cloud computing, and how the county was positioned via the cloud?
OLIVIERI: We were already positioned very well through our enterprise architecture. We have a Microsoft Azure commitment that is the right size for us. So, we were able to spin up infrastructure that we needed in no time at all, and ready-to-go infrastructure for our developers immediately. Once they had done their part and put everything in place, we were able to rapidly deliver it to our users.
So, we’re very happy. We’ve been Azure customers now for maybe eight years. And every year that goes by, we put more resources in Azure when it makes sense.
I’m not an “all cloud” CIO. I think you need the right tool for the job. So, we evaluate everything that comes our way. The first question we do ask is, is this something that could run on Azure? And if it can, what’s it going to look like in Azure? How much additional horsepower, if any, are we going to need to put in there? Are there any special considerations?
Most important, how much will it cost to run something like this in Azure? That’s a big consideration because it has to make financial sense. You could just do it because it’s the latest technology and everybody thinks that’s just the way to go, and it’s going to give you some level of protection that you don’t have in a traditional data center. But that can lead to a false sense of security. There are there still things you have to do to optimize your cloud-based infrastructure, to keep it running as expected and to ensure it’s cost effective.
STATETECH: Is there anything important to you that we haven’t yet highlighted?
OLIVIERI: Like most technologists, I can sit around a table and talk about technology all day — what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and how you did it. If you get five technologists in a room sitting around a table, you’re going to get 20 different answers to any question.
Here’s what’s really important to me. You can have all of the technology you can handle, and you can have the blessings of your commissioners, which we do here in Montgomery County — but the unsung hero is the IT professional.
If you think about the demands that have been put on IT across the board — I don’t care where they are or what they’re doing — if you think about the demands that have been put on the IT professional during COVID, I don’t think anyone would deny that you’ve got nothing without technology. Imagine if COVID hit to a point where your IT professional couldn’t help you, couldn’t reboot your router, even if it was a core router somewhere out on the internet. And things started to degrade. I’ve seen my team in action. I’ve had individuals get sick. I’ve had people with family members getting sick. I’ve had people just completely freaked out about COVID and unable to function. And every single one of my people who were not affected remained without hesitation and got the job done.
I’ve worked through Y2K. I’ve worked through a host of storms. I’ve worked through 9/11, and I’ve never had anything even come close to this crisis — the anxiety, the amount of work that needs to be done and everything else.
It’s important for everyone to just take a second and think about that. There are so many dedicated IT professionals who did not hesitate. They rose to the challenge, like the champs that they are, everywhere.