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1. What does the MIS/IT Dept. do exactly?

The MIS/IT Dept is charged with building, maintaining, and updating the technological systems used by all Town departments and employees. In short what this means is that the software programs and computers on which they run are designed and maintained by the Town's MIS/IT department. We meet with other departments regularly to discuss their needs and add services, and resolve any issues that arise.

In addition, the Town's infrastructure (servers, storage devices, and networking devices) is controlled by the MIS/IT department, as is the imaging infrastructure (printing/scanning/copying), Town website and social media.

2. What kind of technology is in use in Town?

The employee-used computer systems and "base" software are pretty standard. Most of the computers are Lenovo PCs, as are most of the few laptops we have deployed. The overwhelming majority of computers operate with Microsoft Windows 7 and Office 2010. Our server infrastructure employees physical Hewlett Packard servers in a virtualized Microsoft Hyper-V environment. This server system runs a Microsoft Active Directory domain, Exchange 2010 for email services, and all the typical system requirements, such as file and print sharing. We employ an EMC mass storage system connected to the server environment. Most of our networking is handled by Hewlett Packard switches, but we do have some Cisco devices engaged for certain purposes.

3. With whom do you partner for Technology Services?

For the most part, the MIS/IT department is self-sustaining, but by no means do we "go it alone". We employ a great many products and services that help make the technology run smoothly and provide us with additional support. Most of the products we purchase or lease are perpetually renewable and come with support lines built-in.

In general, and this is not an exhaustive list, we use systems or software from the following companies:

• Lenovo


• HP


• Dell SonicWall


• Ricoh


• ShoreTel


• Tyler Technologies


• ESRI


• PeopleGIS


• Microsoft


• CivicPlus


• SoftRight

4. Who do you serve?

The MIS/IT Department serves all Town departments with the exception of the Billerica Public Schools and Public Safety. However, we do work and collaborate very closely with the Information Technology divisions of those organizations.

We also work with the library to an extent and assist Town committees, boards, and commissions with anything they may require.

5. What's on the horizon?

Technology is ever-evolving, and in the world of IT there is no such thing as "done". We are always working on implementing new technologies to improve how data is used. We take very seriously our duty to provide the best possible systems for use by Town employees, because if we do better, they do better for you.

We invite you to check out the latest news from the MIS/IT Dept below.

The latest news!

6. Are the Town's systems secure?

Yes.

While there is NO SUCH THING as an impenetrable network, we have engaged industry standard best practices to secure all of our systems.