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MIS reports rising help-desk load; committee to send survey on iPad problems and possible laptop purchase
Summary
Richland County MIS told the Executive and Finance Standing Committee that help-desk tickets are rising and many supervisors report iPad sync and document issues. Staff will survey supervisors, produce documentation of common errors and, if needed, propose buying laptops for the board in the 2026 budget.
MIS department staff told the Richland County Executive and Finance Standing Committee on May 13 that help-desk requests are rising and several supervisors report persistent problems with county-issued iPads.
Jason, of the MIS department, said help-desk ticket totals have climbed and "if we continue at this pace, we might actually hit, you know, close to 4,500." He said most tickets are routine help-desk items but acknowledged some recurring issues — syncing failures, documents that do not open on iPads, and difficulty viewing spreadsheets on the smaller screens.
The county administrator said staff will create and email a survey to all board members to document specific device problems and who is willing to trial laptops. "If in the end the choice is to go with laptops, we'll probably be presenting a resolution to direct us to build that into our budget for 2026," the administrator said.
Why it matters: committee members said unreliable access to meeting packets and documents undermines board oversight and wastes staff time. Several supervisors said they cannot access materials from home because the iPad will not sync, and others described files that open on a desktop but not on an iPad.
Details and next steps: Jason and MIS colleagues John and Quentin will produce a written note explaining how the sync process works and will accept help-desk tickets for specific problems. Committee members asked MIS to identify the most frequent error types so staff can try configuration or training fixes first.
Committee discussion also covered costs and security. A board member estimated recent county laptop purchases at about $1,500 per unit and said replacing all supervisors with laptops would cost roughly $30,000–$35,000; iPads cost about $350 each. Jason warned that laptops would require a different security approach than iPads because iPads are managed through a mobile device management (MDM) system that allows remote wipe; moving to laptops could add MDM and other security costs.
The committee directed administrators and MIS to: (1) issue a survey to all supervisors about device performance and willingness to pilot laptops; (2) document frequent error types and the iPad sync process; and (3) return with recommendations, including estimated costs and security implications. No formal purchase was approved at the meeting.
