How to Navigate IT Challenges in Government

In today's digital era, public-sector IT departments are at the forefront of innovation, tasked with delivering complex services under the watchful eye of budget constraints, regulatory demands and ever-evolving public needs.

As IT leaders, navigating these challenges requires a blend of strategic vision and practical solutions. From cybersecurity threats to legacy system upgrades, the obstacles are significant, but so are the opportunities for transformation and service enhancement.

EMBRACING EFFICIENCY AND INNOVATION

One of the most pressing challenges IT departments in the public sector face is budget constraints. Every dollar spent on IT needs to bring value to the organization and, ultimately, to the public. Efficiency isn't just a buzzword; it's a necessity.

The city of Avondale, Ariz., exemplifies how adopting an integrated IT Service Management (ITSM) solution like TeamDynamix can lead to substantial efficiency gains. The city's CIO Jeff Scheetz said, “We have better communication now, and tickets are getting handled much faster. The platform saves everyone a lot of time and helps us make sure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle.”

Regulatory and compliance issues add another layer of complexity. Public-sector IT is governed by a labyrinth of regulations that ensure data protection and accessibility. Automation and streamlined workflows can mitigate these challenges.

At Pima County, for example, they’ve automated offboarding – a process that is highly audited. “As a government organization we get audited by the state every year and they want to know what these stale accounts are doing sitting here,” then-Pima County IT leader Mark Hayes said. “Offboarding is currently a very manual process – having to review the list from HR of people who are no longer employed with us and manually revoking their privileges from all the different systems and software, and disabling their accounts. There’s absolutely no reason for that to not be automated. [TeamDynamix] is going to help us a lot with this and save us time.”

MODERNIZING LEGACY SYSTEMS

The ghost of legacy systems haunts many public-sector IT departments, presenting significant challenges in terms of security, efficiency and integration with new technologies. The transition to modern, flexible platforms is fraught with challenges but is essential for future-proofing government IT services.

The case of Avondale shows that with the right tools, such as TeamDynamix, integration and modernization can be achieved without disrupting existing services. “Before, people would have to call or email our help desk with their service requests,” Scheetz said. “However, now with a portal in place, IT has been able to create workflows and automation, rather than managing the many email and ticket requests.”

“The workflow ensures that the requests are handled efficiently and provides additional reporting capabilities,” Scheetz continued. “Before, it was hard to prioritize tasks without a full view of what was going on.” In just a little over a year, Scheetz and his staff transformed the delivery of IT service for the city with TeamDynamix.

TACKLING CYBERSECURITY AND TALENT RETENTION

Cybersecurity remains a top concern, with public-sector organizations being prime targets for cyber attacks. Here, the emphasis on proactive measures and quick response capabilities becomes paramount. Similarly, attracting and retaining talent in a competitive market requires offering engaging work environments and opportunities for innovation.

Pima County has leveraged TeamDynamix to automate routine tasks, allowing staff to focus on more strategic initiatives. "People feel so much more empowered and have so much more worth when they are doing things that are intellectually rigorous and challenging versus when they are just repeating the same mechanical actions over and over and over with very little thought,” Hayes said.

“Our ITSM is our entry point to our entire IT organization, and we want our employees to graduate out of this area into other roles within our organization – network technicians, client services, desktop technicians, developers and project managers,” he continued. “If all they’re doing is handling tickets and doing the same mundane, manual tasks over and over, that’s not particularly great training. So investing in tools that allow our employees to engage in meaningful work is something that’s important to us as an overall IT organization.”

FACILITATING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Digital transformation is not just about adopting new technologies but also about cultural shifts within organizations. It requires a clear vision, leadership and tools that empower employees to embrace change.

For Avondale, implementing TeamDynamix was a step toward this transformation, enabling them to offer better services to their citizens. "We can see trends and patterns that help us deploy our limited resources in a more intelligent manner,” Scheetz said.

TeamDynamix has enabled employees to streamline city operations and deliver better service to Avondale residents. The system’s versatility has added a tremendous amount of value to the city government. “Everybody has a limited staff,” Scheetz said, referring to municipal organizations. “Having a system like TeamDynamix makes a huge difference.”

ENHANCING COLLABORATION ACROSS AGENCIES

Finally, cross-agency collaboration is crucial for delivering comprehensive services to the public. Shared platforms and integrated service management tools can break down silos, fostering a culture of cooperation and shared success.

Pima County's experience highlights the benefits of this approach. “The drudgery of working through mundane, repetitive tasks doesn’t exist just in IT,” Hayes said. “I think the more we can reduce toil within the departments that we support, the more people are going to buy in and understand the value of what we’re trying to achieve. There’s nothing like success to breed more success, and once other departments see the benefits, they’re going to want these tools too.”

Navigating IT challenges in the government sector requires a strategic approach, leveraging tools that can address multiple challenges simultaneously. As shown by the city of Avondale's and Pima County’s experiences with TeamDynamix, adopting an integrated ITSM platform can lead to significant improvements in efficiency, compliance, cybersecurity, talent management, digital transformation and interdepartmental collaboration.

For public-sector IT leaders, the path forward involves embracing innovation, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and choosing ITSM solutions that can adapt to the evolving landscape of government IT.

Want to learn about 2024 IT trends in the public sector? Check out the latest report from the Center for Digital Government*: 2024 Outlook for Trends in IT Service Management

*Note: The Center for Digital Government is part of e.Republic, Government Technology's parent company.