Re: So many systems
Yeah, a lot of cities will either consolidate into a central "Information Services" group that handles IT for everyone. A lot of times this is run by an outside Manged Services Provider or something. I've also seen some municipalities where one group will get a massive grant, build out a bunch of IT equipment with the money, then rent out excess capacity to other agencies.
This is almost always done for cost-savings rather than the benefits of consolidation. Usually one of the first things to go it backups and monitoring software. This results in all eggs/one flimsy basket scenario which is ripe for RansomWare.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
