Elkhart County council approves IT staffing plan, flags app consolidation and cybersecurity needs
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Summary
The council approved an IT staffing plan and a package of IT budget items intended to strengthen cybersecurity, reduce reliance on costly contracts and rationalize more than 200 applications used across county departments.
The Elkhart County Council voted to approve an IT staffing plan and a package of items (numbered 1–10 in the county packet) intended to bolster cybersecurity, stabilize operations and begin consolidation of the county's technology footprint.
Jeff Taylor, county administrator, and Jeff Spires, Motion Consulting acting CIO, presented the staffing plan and an inventory of county technology that Taylor described as "200 plus applications, a 101 servers and SAN cores, 47 switch stacks" and numerous devices across 30 departments. Spires said the plan represents what the consultants consider a minimum, adequate staffing level to maintain the county's infrastructure and secure systems.
The staffing request covers seven positions in the broader plan; four of those roles were previously funded through contracts and the net new headcount is three, according to presentation remarks. Among positions discussed were a cybersecurity analyst and a cybersecurity engineer, and presenters said they expect hiring to occur over time rather than all at once. Taylor and Spires also described a vendor assessment tool and a process to evaluate technology proposals from departments so the council can better understand total cost and support implications.
Councilors discussed the budget impact and recruiting timeline. One member said the general fund shows about $726,000 ("impacted general fund 726,000 and change") connected to IT changes; presenters said some contracted services previously in the budget will be replaced by in‑house positions over time. Consultants and staff warned the county will need time to recruit specialized IT staff and noted ongoing vendor support from a firm identified in the meeting as Moser (consultant) to help execute the multi‑year plan.
Councilors broadly supported the plan as a program rather than an item‑by‑item budget reduction, with one member saying the county could reassess next year if the approach does not deliver expected results. The council approved items 1–10 together on a motion by Doug, second by Steve; the vote was taken by voice and recorded as approved.
Spires and Taylor recommended a 25–40% reduction in the county's software inventory over time, noting many single‑use applications could be consolidated. They said some enterprise resource planning (ERP) replacements are multi‑year projects and other technology work, such as security platform outsourcing and maintenance, can be shorter term.
Staff described practical needs the plan aims to address: courthouse and departmental audiovisual and security systems; uptime for servers and uninterruptible power supplies; and daily support for dozens of applications used for permitting, assessments, public safety and other county services. The presenters said they had already hired at least one new network administrator (named in the presentation as Sean Johnson) who will offset some vendor costs.
The council motion authorized the staffing and related IT items as presented; staff said implementation will follow hiring timelines and contract adjustments. Consultants pledged to provide a strategy and multiyear plan before year end.
