What is Middleboro IT director planning?

What is Middleboro IT director planning?

According to the Information Technology (IT) Assessment recently done by the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management for Middleboro, the, “IT director stated that he spent 50 percent of his time on planning activities” and that, “In a town of Middleborough’s size, these planning activities should not require more than approximately 15 percent of an IT Director’s time.” In Middleboro, our IT director is spending 35 percent more time planning than most.

It also states that the town does not have a “written plan for business continuity/disaster recovery. This leaves Middleborough at extraordinary risk.”

At the presentation on June 16, the IT director corrected the statement that there is no disaster recovery plan. He said he has a list of names to call in an emergency and he can borrow equipment from a local offsite backup company.

A business continuity plan is used in cases such as the basement of town hall being flooded (that is where the town’s computer room is and it has flooded in the past). It would describe what and how to set up equipment for a short time in order keep the town functioning. A disaster recovery plan is for a major event, for example, a hurricane hit the area, like what happened to New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. It would describe how to get critical computer services back in operation when the town’s normal infrastructure in damaged.

The IT Assessment also said that the town has no strategic plan for IT.

A strategic plan for IT is the road map for moving forward. It describes the goals for the IT department and how to reach them.

The town of Middleboro has an extremely inadequate business continuity/disaster recovery plan and no strategic plan for IT. What is our town’s IT director spending half of his time planning?

BOB DUNPHY

Middleboro