About Information Technology Services

We enable the business with speed and scale, to provide solutions to real business problems, and to seize opportunities that drive customer satisfaction and desired outcomes. We specialize in leadership, and provide experienced professionals, innovation and core enterprise technologies that meet the critical business drivers of our customers.

Some of our high points include:

  • Public Wifi - Open wireless internet access for citizens at the library, convention center, and other county facilities.
  • Infrastructure - Robust networking, electronic storage, and computing architecture to support county continuity of operations with high reliability and survivability.
  • Fiber Optics - Connecting county facilities for speed, reliability, and financial savings
  • GISGeospatial Information Services to bring intelligent analysis and visualization to mapping assets.

Data

From digitized records to geographic information, the County stores a wealth of data in many formats. We maintain databases, data repositories, scanned images of documents, and email archives.

We have disaster recovery plans in place to protect and restore our data in case of a catastrophe. We back up and store our vital data at another location.

Some of this information is available via this website, such as Bids & Proposals.

Network

We maintain the servers, workstations, and network infrastructure needed to connect the computers in the County. We also provide mobile services for County field staff.

The core of our network is a server farm which houses data and many of our applications. The servers are often clustered; that is, the work and data are spread across two or more physical computers. This provides more computing power to run applications and fail-over protection should a hardware component malfunction.

Our network infrastructure connects the servers and our workstations, which can be desktop computers, laptops, tablets, Blackberries, or people browsing our Web site via the internet.  The network consists of traditional copper or fiber cabling and a wireless network that covers the County.  Our field personnel that utilize mobile applications use this wireless network.

In addition, we provide a public Wi-Fi access point which is available in the downtown Bradenton area. 

Radio

The Radio Division primarily maintains and operates Manatee County 800 MHz trunked radio systems. This network serves as a primary interoperable communications system during emergencies.

We provide engineering, technical support and repair capabilities for the County's radio communications network. This network consist of several microwave and fiber optic links connected to 9 radio communication tower sites, 911 radio dispatch consoles and a radio network operations center (NOC) where we monitor and control the entire system.

The mobile shop is responsible for maintaining over 3500 radios for over 40 agencies that support Public Safety and Local Law Enforcement agencies.  

Software

The County uses a variety of software ranging from off-the-shelf packages and vendor-supplied products to custom applications written by our staff. We assist with evaluating, creating, installing, and supporting the software.

All software used by the County goes through a life cycle. First, we assess the need for new software. If it is deemed necessary and cost-effective, then we perform an evaluation to determine the best solution.

After the decision is made to proceed, we either purchase or write the software. After installation, we test the software and train the staff to use it. Finally, we release it for 'live' usage, providing maintenance support when necessary.

Evaluate - Whether we purchase a software package or write one ourselves, we aid the County staff in evaluating their software needs. We assist them in creating a business process analysis to determine the appropriate software solution. We also assure that the software they use meshes with our existing hardware, network, and security policies.

Create - If an off-the-shelf or vendor software package is not available, we write a custom program. This is a collaborative process between our developers and the requesting department. We carefully analyze the functions required in the program and arrange for data storage. We then write and test the code.

Install - Whether bought off-the-shelf or created in-house, we handle the installation and configuration of all software. This includes configuring a server on which to run the software, creating databases to store information, applying security protocols, and testing the program.

Support - Beginning with training the staff to use the new software, our support for the software never ceases. We apply updates and patches, as well as troubleshoot any errors encountered while using the software.

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