Many local and state governments have modernized and optimized their IT infrastructure to improve government services, and that includes ensuring law enforcement agencies have access to critical resources 24/7 and can share data when required.
Government IT leaders are deploying a mix of new data center hardware, virtualization software and cloud services to improve law enforcement workflow and communication and to support mobile applications in vehicles and body-worn cameras. It all improves officer safety and productivity and public safety services to citizens.
Governments can take different IT approaches. Some communities, such as the city of Allen, Texas, have upgraded their on-premises data centers to bolster public safety. Allen installed new hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) equipment to run new CAD, RMS and mobile software on-premises.
Meanwhile, Louisiana deploys a hybrid cloud solution for its law enforcement needs. The state has combined a Software as a Service (SaaS) application with its own existing hybrid cloud infrastructure.
READ MORE: Governments strengthen services with data center optimization.
State Agencies Adopt a Shared Services Model
Louisiana began optimizing its IT infrastructure 10 years ago when it consolidated agency IT departments and created the Office of Technology Services (OTS) to provide shared, hosted services to agencies, says Louisiana state CTO Jeremy Deal.
OTS centralized IT operations into two data centers and uses Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and other cloud services to grow infrastructure as needed and serve as backup for disaster recovery, he says.