Columbia County IT manager outlines services, security and growth challenges

In an online interview, Sean McArdle, information technology manager for Columbia County, outlined the department’s core teams, public-facing systems and the security and staffing challenges that come with rapid county growth.

McArdle said the county’s IT department is organized into four teams that “support the various systems and applications within the county,” including applications development, networking, server support and technical support. “We have our applications development team. They do all of our enterprise applications, like finance, HR, payroll, tax,” he said.

The department supports services that the public uses directly, McArdle said, including an online utility-billing and customer-management system recently implemented for the county’s water utility and a permitting and licensing system that is nearing rollout. “We're on the tail end of getting our new permitting and licensing system implemented, which is gonna have an online portal also,” McArdle said. He also noted public Wi‑Fi in parks and library facilities and other applications such as surveillance cameras.

McArdle described the IT department’s role in county capital projects. “We are involved in, you know, the beginning of every building project because there's so much technology now in buildings to support meetings, audio visual conferencing, wireless phone systems, computers,” he said, noting participation in projects such as justice center expansion, park Wi‑Fi installations and other site developments.

On security and continuity, McArdle said the department has a dedicated security team and uses redundancy to maintain services during outages. “We take security very, very seriously in the IT department,” he said. He added that the county maintains generator power and redundant systems so server rooms and internet access can stay operational if utility power is lost.

The IT shop works with other county units, McArdle said, naming the county broadband department, GIS, the sheriff’s office and fire rescue as close partners to ensure connectivity and 24‑hour access for public‑safety systems.

McArdle also described workforce efforts: the department employs two summer interns and has a multi‑year partnership with the Columbia County Board of Education to host one computer‑science or cybersecurity student each year during the school year. “A degree is nice, but, you know, experience and willingness to learn and wanting to jump in is more important,” he said.

He said the county’s rapid growth is the department’s most persistent challenge. “The challenging part is the county is growing so fast, and keeping up with the technology and the needs of everybody is difficult,” McArdle said, noting fast‑moving technology, rising user expectations and evolving security policies as factors that require continual training and planning.

Cassidy Harris, public relations manager for Columbia County, conducted the interview and closed by thanking McArdle and his team for their work keeping county systems running. The conversation offers a snapshot of the department’s structure, public services and the technical and staffing issues county leaders say they are managing as Columbia County grows.