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Deschutes County IT shifts ISF model, upgrades cybersecurity and Microsoft licensing
Summary
County information-technology leaders told the budget committee they reworked ISF charge methodology and invested in identity controls, endpoint management, 24/7 threat monitoring, and a .gov domain grant; those moves raise near-term software and maintenance costs but deliver additional security and transparency.
Deschutes County information-technology leaders on May 12 described a series of security, licensing and charging-model changes they say are intended to modernize county systems and reduce organizational risk.
What the IT team presented - ISF charge model change: IT staff said they revised the internal-service-fund (ISF) charge model to allocate costs using a mix of three drivers — number of computers, number of users/FTEs, and printer/devices — plus server and application factors. The change redistributed costs across some departments and was intended to make administrative charges more transparent. - Microsoft licensing and Office 365 migration: The county upgraded licensing and moved more fully to Office 365. IT said the licensing optimization provided access to expanded identity-and-security features and gave the county stronger control over application and user access. - Cybersecurity upgrades: IT leaders said they purchased a new managed-detection-and-response partner, tightened public-facing infrastructure, deployed endpoint-management staffing, phased in enterprise password-management, and launched regular tabletop exercises for departments to exercise incident response. - .gov transition and grant: IT staff said they secured grant funding to proceed with a migration to a .gov domain for county public websites, a step the county said strengthens trust and reduces third-party risk.
Budget impact - Short-term increases in the IT ISF will reflect higher software maintenance and contracted security services; the department said it took steps to hold ISF increases to the board-approved limit while redirecting charges in a more precise manner. - IT leaders emphasized the investments are aimed at reducing the county’s exposure to ransomware and other cyber incidents and at improving transparency in how departments are charged for shared IT services.
Quotes and next steps - “Those licensing and security changes gave us access to a lot more features, a lot more security features, specifically, identity and access management for all users,” IT staff said during the committee presentation. - IT plans to continue rolling out password management, finalize the endpoint-protection program and expand tabletop incident-response exercises across departments in coming months.
Sources: IT presentation by Chief Technology staff (Tanya Mahood and colleagues) to the Deschutes County Budget Committee, May 12, 2025.
