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IT manager outlines network modernization, Microsoft 365 migration and 311 rollout timeline
Summary
Celso Arrieta, the city's IT manager, briefed the council on recent IT projects including SD-WAN (AZ-One) deployment, next-generation firewalls, UCaaS migration, IoT for water treatment, migration to Microsoft 365, telecom cost savings, staff training, and an RFP for a 311 citizen-service platform expected to show departmental rollouts after about
Paris — Celso Arrieta, who said he has served as the city's IT manager since June, gave the City Council an overview Monday of the IT department's recent modernization and security projects and plans for citizen-facing services.
Arrieta described several completed projects: a software-defined wide-area network (described in his presentation as AZ-One) that centralized management and reduced reliance on point-to-point links; deployment of next-generation firewalls and network segmentation; migration from on-premises Exchange to Microsoft 365 (including Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint) to expand mailbox storage and collaboration tools; and a UCaaS (cloud telephone) rollout to replace legacy PBX systems. He said those moves simplify management, increase resilience and reduce maintenance costs.
Arrieta also summarized operational projects: an IoT deployment for smart water treatment monitoring to reduce false alarms and allow proactive alerts; consolidation of server infrastructure from Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2019; and telecom line reductions (removing rarely used analog lines) that he said cut roughly $3,000 per month in expenses. He credited team members Michael Gott and Brian Dabbs for leading migrations and security training.
On citizen-facing services, Arrieta said an RFP for a 311 citizen-service/works-order platform opened last week and that the city received one proposal that met the RFP criteria and budget. He said the roadmap anticipates roughly eight months before the first visible functionality is available and that departmental implementations would become apparent after month nine. Arrieta said the platform will be web and mobile friendly, allow photo uploads, provide ticket status updates to users, and support guest or signed-in access.
Arrieta said the IT department is three people and emphasized priorities going forward including a disaster-recovery and business-continuity plan that will include offsite backups, expanded self-service options, and deeper use of Microsoft Power Platform for internal workflows. He invited council questions; council members praised the department's progress and noted the benefit of better connectivity for critical systems such as SCADA for water operations.
What council asked for or directed: staff to bring any RFP award back to council for approval when ready; staff also agreed to provide timing and rollout details when vendor selection is complete.
