Now, more than half a century and a couple of generations later, the county again finds itself on the cusp of the future — but instead of architecture, it's trying to stay current with the latest in information technology.
One of the county executives leading the way is Senior Digital Services Analyst Darren Huppert, a Placer County native. He participated recently in this question-and-answer interview with Techwire.
Techwire: What challenges does the variance in geography and population place on Placer County’s IT infrastructure?
Huppert: We have county offices up in North Lake Tahoe all the way down to Roseville. So, one challenge our central IT group has is making sure there is enough bandwidth to meet the needs of all employees, especially considering our move toward cloud-based services.
TW: Please explain in layman’s terms the hybrid IT governance of Placer County.
Huppert: It is indeed a hybrid model. We have departments across the organization that have their own IT staff, a few of them have their own IT departments. And then we have central IT that manages most of the overall infrastructure and services. Smaller departments that do not have the budget for IT staff will pay for services through central IT, as that makes more sense for their budget.
TW: What are the two or three biggest IT enterprise projects/procurements that are either awaiting approval or in the works in Placer County?
Huppert: The county is replacing its financials, HR and payroll system with Workday. We are already through Phase One of the project, which was the financials replacement. Phase Two includes replacing our PeopleSoft solution with Workday, and that will launch in 2019.
Our website replacement project is on schedule to launch in 2019, as well. This will replace our Sitecore on-premises solution with CivicPlus, a Software-as-a-Service product.
Finally, our central IT team is working hard to migrate to Office 365. This is a multi-phase project that is expected to be complete in 2020.
TW: Many people now expect to be able to conduct their business online with their government — whether that’s for a pet license, a tax payment or a traffic ticket. Some counties are on the cutting edge in incorporating their online services with personal assistant devices, such as Amazon Alexa. How far down that road has Placer County progressed? Do you get much public feedback — good or bad — about Placer County’s online services? Are there any new technologies that Placer residents can expect to enjoy in the next 12-18 months?
Huppert: My goal is to help people ‘skip the trip.’ I want our customers to be able to do business with the county at their convenience, and without having to come into a county office when possible. It saves time and money.
The new website project is proving to be our catalyst for innovation. I meet regularly with departments, and it is exciting to see how the project has gotten them thinking about what else they can do to make our government services digital-first. For example, our Community Development Resource Agency is getting creative and looking to create a virtual front counter. They’re even looking at adding smart speaker and chatbot functionality in the near future.
TW: You started your career in IT in the private sector before moving to the public sector. What do you miss most about working in the private sector? What do you like best about working in the public sector?
Huppert: As you mentioned, I began my career at Microsoft and was there for nearly 11 years. I do miss the flexibility I had. For example, if I needed to buy a product or service, I made the justification and simply bought it. On the contrary, in public sector we have stringent (but necessary) rules about purchasing and in many cases have to do RFPs, get board approval, and so on.
I love working in the public sector, and at the local level specifically. There is nothing more rewarding than being able to serve people, knowing that the work we do makes a direct impact on the success of the community at large. That’s what’s so great about city and county government. It’s incredibly fulfilling.
TW: Do you network much with other public-sector IT professionals at the city, county or state level? Does Placer County do any cooperative purchasing, IT mutual aid in case of emergency, or cross-training with other counties?
Huppert: Absolutely. I love to network with other local leaders in government, but I look across the country at what others are doing to drive innovation. For example, I reached out to a small city in Georgia because they were the first to launch an Alexa skill that connects to their Open Data portal. Now, I have a relationship with their team, and am looking to work collaboratively so we can potentially share work with each other, saving time and money for both organizations.
TW: If a vendor wants to pitch you, what's the best approach?
Huppert: Vendors usually contact me directly by email or by messaging me on LinkedIn. Many vendors work directly with the county’s IT departments and with our central IT department. I would recommend vendors sign up for notifications of open bids on our procurement website.
