Pulaski County is a step closer to having a formal agreement in place for IT services. Last week, DeGroot Technology presented a proposal to the county commissioners. The company would be available for county work 16 hours per week, but the county would only get billed for the hours that are actually needed.
Cheryl DeGroot noted that DeGroot Technology has been doing IT work for Pulaski County for more than 20 years. “We were the sole providers for many, many years until they created the IT Department and came up with an IT director,” she said. “We have knowledge of the network. We have knowledge of everything county.”
DeGroot has also been helping with the county’s technology needs since the commissioners disbanded the county’s IT Department last month, but without a formal agreement. The commissioners wanted to review the proposal before making a final decision.
However, the county’s current situation is drawing concerns from Pulaski County resident Kent Kroft, who also happens to be Tippecanoe County’s chief information officer. “I’ve been following the IT troubles you guys have been having, and as an IT director elsewhere, it scares me a little bit because of the security threats that are out there,” he told the commissioners last week.
Kroft explained that in Tippecanoe County, all major technology purchases are supposed to go through the IT Department, but are funded by each individual department’s budget. In Pulaski County, Commissioner Kenny Becker felt that department heads had been purchasing equipment expecting the IT Department to cover the cost, which eventually led to the IT Department’s elimination. Kroft said another thing that has helped Tippecanoe County is having an IT advisory board made up of a commissioner, some department heads, and outside IT professionals.
The discussion of Pulaski County’s IT needs is expected to continue during tonight’s county council meeting. It starts at 7:00 EDT in the Pulaski County Highway Garage.
